Immortal Soulmates 2 - Mates
by believer76
Summary: Immortal Aaron Hotchner, meets his mate the day after her 30th birthday. It's several hundred years later that Aaron and Harper meet their final mate Spencer Reid. Warning: this story contain one heavy BDSM scene and several mentions of it in different scenes. If you don't like that kind of thing then either skip the scene or don't read.
1. Chapter 1

Immortal Soulmates 2 – Mates

Part 1

New Orleans

"Congratulations, on your 30th birthday, sweeties," Dave told his two youngest daughters, who were twins.

A child turning 30 was an important event for their family. It meant that for an immortal you were fully grown and would stop aging completely. Of course, that didn't mean that an immortal's emotions and mental processes wouldn't mature over the next few decades, a process that never stopped really, not so long as you were alive to learn and grow.

"Thank you daddy," Harper and Brooke said together, grinning at him.

"In honor of the occasion, just like we did with all your siblings, we're going to take you out for a nice dinner," Penelope told her two youngest.

"Also since you have now officially come of age among the immortals, the accounts I set up for you both are officially yours completely, instead of only partially. I know you will be responsible and won't drain the accounts for no reason," Dave said, even as he smiled proudly at them for they had become two mature young women in the last 30 years and both had several college degrees that they could use if they so desired. In fact, they had just graduated with their fourth degrees and that was really good as most people only got one, sometimes two. They had gotten 4 degrees in about 12 years which was really good and none of their parents would be surprised if they turned out to have genius level intellects. But then again both Dave and Penelope were very intelligent people themselves and also might have a genius level intellect, particularly Penelope who was the goddess of computers. Of course, neither had ever had an IQ test done, but that didn't really matter to them, as most people never did unless they were rather unusual and showed their intelligence at an early age. Well, either that or somebody noticed that their child never had any trouble with the schoolwork, a teacher for example. Such people that showed genius at an early age did exist but then there were also plenty of really smart people in the world that were probably geniuses, just not so blatant that it was noticed.

"All of you taught us well," Harper said.

"We know how to look for investments constantly and we can always come to you for advice," Brooke added.

"You taught us how to be responsible," Harper said, smiling.

"So we did," JJ said speaking for the first time smiling as Penelope's two youngest had now reached that critical age. Of course, to her they would always be her little babies, even though she hadn't given birth to them in this case. Still, no matter whose DNA they had they would always be the whole family's children.

"Well then, I'll make reservations somewhere really nice so be prepared to dress up," Dave said smiling.

"What about Bernard's?" Brooke asked with the pleading expression.

Bernard's was a five star restaurant that was extremely exclusive and hard to get into, but the food was also excellent. Much better than a lot of other places. Luckily, Dave happened to have connections at that particular restaurant, so the girls would likely get their wish.

"We'll see," Dave said, but the twins exchanged excited expressions, because that usually meant that they would get their wish.

My children sure do know me well, Dave thought ruefully before he grinned in his mind.

"Come on, let's go choose what outfits we want to wear for tonight," Brooke urged her sister who nodded also smiling. Both girls were a lot like their mother Penelope who loved to dress up, while JJ was more of a casual clothing person, though she dressed up when necessary without complaint. Penelope liked to dress up no matter where she went and she never wore jeans or T-shirts, though the other two did, even in public. There was nothing wrong with jeans as he sometimes wore them himself depending on what he was doing of course, but mostly he wore them around the home. Just because most of the family wore jeans didn't mean they wore anything but the most expensive brand names, like Viva.

Still, they meshed surprisingly well as a family unit and Dave couldn't've been happier with his life.

Dave considered how all of them had been raised or when they had been born he could understand why they had different taste in clothing. Emily for instance never wore a dress or skirt unless she absolutely had to, considering that was all that was appropriate for woman when she was born Dave could hardly blame her. He knew that Emily had been glad to burn every single dress or skirt she owned once it was appropriate for women to wear pants or shorts. There were plenty of dressy outfits that contained pants and a blouse or even suits for woman that could be bought, that made them look even more gorgeous then they already were. If they were going somewhere fancy Emily looked spectacular when she put something like that on, though mostly, she preferred expensive, but casual clothes.

JJ on the other hand, was a very casual clothes type person, but she certainly cleaned up well when she wore a dress or skirt. JJ still didn't believe that she was as beautiful as Emily or Penny no matter how many times Dave told her so, but so long as she knew that she was loved that was all that mattered.

She had accepted that Dave thought she was beautiful and really that was all she needed to be happy. It wasn't even that JJ believed she was plain just that she was more of the girl next-door sort of person. She didn't realize that she had an inner beauty that shined through, as she liked to believe the best in everyone, even though she knew that was evil in the world, had even confronted it a few times. She wasn't naïve or innocent by any stretch of the imagination, but still, she liked to believe the best of humanity until proven otherwise. Still, she had sharp defensive skills, so it wasn't like she was totally naïve and believed that nothing bad whatsoever could happen to her. After all, she had been attacked twice by men centuries ago.

One had hurt her so badly that the doctors of the time had said that she might never be able to have children or at least not carry them to full term. The other had been in the process of at least beating her up for the money in her wallet when she was walking to her car from her place of employment, shortly after she had met Dave and Emily. The fact that he had been drugged up to his eyeballs hadn't made JJ feel any better at the time, nor should it have.

That particular mugger had ended up dead thanks to Dave, although he and Emily were the only ones that knew it. JJ might suspect that it had been Dave that had broken the mugger's neck, but if she did she had never said anything about it.

JJ had surprisingly accepted the situation unsure if she would be jealous of Emily since women in general tended to be very territorial of their man, but she hadn't been, even before the bond was complete. Once the bond was finalized it prevented jealousy between the different mates of an immortal when they had more than one, which didn't happen often. She had had to ease into it, but surprisingly, she and Emily had gotten along from the first time they had met and the jealousy that JJ had expected to develop considering that they were sharing the same guy had never come to pass.

It didn't mean that everything had been easy, as JJ had had to work up to sleeping with two people instead of one, one of whom was another woman, even if the relationship between them was entirely platonic. She had been raised in a traditional household one mother, one father. It didn't help that threesomes or foursomes weren't exactly very normal either, though some people played at it, but it never lasted, at least usually.

Still, even though it had taken time, JJ had been surprisingly accepting and that was all that mattered.

Now Penelope his last mate was very extravagant in the way she dressed. She was cheerful and upbeat and dressed more boldly, in bright colors. She wore her individuality like a cloak. It didn't matter really because Dave loved all three of them deeply and completely and they knew it. Despite the fact that they were different in many ways they were also surprisingly similar in many others, like their ethics and morals for example. Still, all three were great friends and considered each other sisters and that was more than fine with him, because it certainly lessened the arguments since they got along so well. They been very close from the beginning but then Emily had been prepared to accept JJ and Penny, simply because she had known since she was a child that he had more than one mate, so there hadn't been any jealousy, even before the bond between him and Jennifer was complete at least not from her end.

Penny was also a genius on any type of electronics, but especially computers and she redid their history every few decades, which helped them move more easily in society, so that the four of them didn't have to be so careful.

Dave had always been grateful for her skill, as it made things much easier for the four of them.

"I had better go make those reservations," Dave said finally.

"And we had better go get dressed up some, as Bernard's is very exclusive," Emily said smiling.

"You go ahead, I'll join you in a few minutes," Dave said smiling at them. "It doesn't take me as long to get ready as it does you three."

"I know, men have it so easy," JJ said sounding a little aggrieved. "I mean all they have to do is get dressed, slap on aftershave and brush their hair and teeth. It takes them 20 minutes, maybe half an hour if they have to take a shower and shave to."

"I know it doesn't really seem fair does it?" Penelope asked rhetorically.

"That's just the breaks," Emily shrugged. "Life isn't fair anyway."

The three ladies disappeared upstairs into the master bedroom, which had been enlarged.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Well, don't you look beautiful," Dave complimented his two daughters sincerely. The twins were different from each other as night and day. Harper was almost as tall as he was given a half inch. She also had his black hair, except she kept it long, way past her shoulders and it was also naturally curly like Penelope's. Brooklynn on the other hand, had brown straight hair, that was also a dominant color and was the most common after black and it ran in almost anybody's family, no matter their ethnicity. She was also short more Penelope's height which was 5'7', but a couple of inches taller at 5'9'. Both had brown eyes, but since he and Penelope had that color that was to be expected really, since it was dominate over all the others. Harper was tall and statuesque, while her sister took after her mother in the shape of her body being bigger boned, though not as much. It was fairly obvious they were sisters but not that they were twins and nobody would ever know it unless they knew both personally, because they were just too different looking.

Still, they were close, as most twins were, despite the fact that they looked different and also had vastly different personalities. They had both done well in school and didn't seem to struggle with this schoolwork and in fact, seemed to find it incredibly easy and neither ever needed any help, particularly when he came to computer science. Both girls were just as good on computer as their mother and they might decide to take it up in some form as a career. They might even decide to follow their mother in doing new backgrounds for other immortals for a very nice fee each time, but if that was the case they hadn't informed the rest of the family yet.

"Thank you, daddy," Brooke told her father giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, which he accepted with pleasure, as he could never get too many hugs and kisses from his children. Really, Immortals were affectionate, especially with those they were close to and the Rossis were a very close family, even if most of their children were out there somewhere in the world doing whatever they wanted with their lives. That wasn't to say that they didn't hear from their children on a fairly regular basis or see them at least every few years, but that didn't mean he didn't miss them.

"You're quite welcome, sweetie," Dave said smiling. "I know you've been considered adults for quite some time, but among immortals turning 30 is a rite of passage. You're now considered fully grown adults among our kind as you stopped aging the moment you turned 30 at midnight. You'll no longer grow any older, though your mental processes and emotions will mature the more experience you gain."

"We know, daddy," Harper said trying not to roll her eyes.

"You certainly told us often enough over the last couple years," Brook added.

"You've taught us well, now you need to trust that we learned the lessons that you've taught us," Harper said.

"Yeah I know, forgive an old man for not wanting to let his last two children grow up completely," Dave apologized, looking rather sad.

"I'm sure you'll have some more in a few decades, daddy," Brooke suggested.

"No, we won't, sweetie," Dave explained gently. "Your mothers and I decided that it was time and that I was going to get myself permanently fixed. You're the last children we're ever going to have unless we adopt at some point, which we might decide to do eventually."

Harper and Brooke gasped at this information for they had not known that this decision was even brewing since they had been away at college for a large portion of the last dozen years.

"You actually went ahead and did that?" Brook asked with a rather shocked expression.

"We did, because we've had well over 200 children, sweetie," Dave explained. "We decided together that the two of you were going to be the last. Thanks to our ability to have children every five years, well, we've done our share of procreating for the Immortal race. All four of us decided together that it was simply time. Since I'm not about to have any children unless it's with my mates it was me that decided to go through an operation, so that it would only have to be done once instead of three different times."

"So they'll be no more brothers or sisters for us," Harper said still in shock.

"I'm afraid not, sweetie," Dave said.

"It wasn't a last-minute decision," Penelope said coming out of the master bedroom, dressed and ready to go. "It was a decision that had been brewing for at least a decade and then I got pregnant with you and that was when we decided that you two were going to be it."

"Once Penny was pregnant the decision was made by all of us and Dave went through an operation shortly afterwards," Emily added coming into the living area.

"You were a rather unexpected surprise, because Penny forgot to have her IUD replaced, which needs to be done once a year. It was just a happy accident," Dave said.

"Now that you've reached thirty though, you're considered adults not just in the human world, but in the immortal one as well," JJ said finally emerging from the master bedroom.

"Of course, 18 is considered an adult in our society to, but you're now considered fully mature once to reach the age you are now. Even at 18 you're not necessarily considered responsible for your own actions depending on what kind of action it is at least among our kind, although humans think differently of course."

"We understand it was a mutual decision, but you sure did shock us, since we had no idea that you had even been discussing it," Harper commented, seeming to finally have recovered from the surprising news.

"We know how shocking it is," Dave said.

"And if we could only have children every 70 or 75 years like most immortals we likely wouldn't have gone ahead and done it," Emily added.

"But between us we've had well over 200 children, so as Dave said I think we did our part to increase the immortal race," JJ added.

"I think so and I'm definitely grateful that I'll never have backaches, weird food cravings or swollen ankles ever again," Penelope added. "Dave was really good about getting up in the middle of the night to prepare me whatever I wanted, but still, I won't miss being pregnant."

"I definitely won't," Emily said. "I might've only had one at a time instead of twins, but that doesn't mean I'll miss everything that goes along with pregnancy."

"I would love to have a few children," Brooke said looking wistful.

"Your day will come, sweetie," Dave promised his daughter. "You'll meet your mate someday and have beautiful children together."

"But only every 70 or 75 years," Harper sighed, also looking a little wistful.

"That's the way that Ilithyia had to fix it, darlings," JJ told her daughters.

"We know," Brooke agreed.

"You made sure we knew how our race began," Harper added.

"And about the history and laws that we must abide by, so that we don't lose our immortality," Brooke added.

"It doesn't mean that I don't wish we could have children more than every hundred years," Harper said.

"Harper's right you know, we really have been incredibly blessed," Emily said. "Mostly immortals can only have one child every hundred years, though of course, if you have more than one mate then you can have more than one child at a time."

"But many immortals don't have but a single mate, so that means they can only have a single child at a time," Penelope said.

"Yeah, I know and I also know that I've been incredibly lucky, that I've always known I had three mates, even if I had trouble finding two of them," Dave agreed.

"Well, hopefully, we'll find our mates to, even if that's not for a couple hundred years," said Brooke.

"I hope you do because you'll never be fulfilled completely without them," Dave told his daughters. "You'll always have a whirling blankness in your souls, just like all immortals do until they find their mates. You ought to be feeling them right now, since you are now fully mature."

"Yeah, we do," Harper said looking at her sister who nodded.

"Luckily, you don't feel that blankness until you hit 30, because it would be hard for kids to deal with or a teenager," JJ said. "They wouldn't understand why they felt as if something was missing from their lives, but by the time an immortal stops aging they have the experience to understand what that feeling means."

"How did you and Emily know that you two were mates if you didn't feel this blankness until you reach 30?" Brooke asked.

"A seer that is famous among our kind told us," Dave said simply. "Sometimes our kind produces seers, which is why Immortals believe in them. It is quite common to have a child's future read when they are quite young. Of course, the future isn't always clear at such a young age and Ilithyia only shows us what we need to see right then."

"But in this case, it showed a clear picture of the two of us getting married when we were older and that was how all the adults knew that we were mates," Emily added.

"We knew from the time we were young children that we were meant to be together and were married at 16," Dave added smiling, as he remembered.

"We never felt that blankness for the two of us, but we certainly did when it came to JJ and Penny," Emily added.

"But Emily only felt that blankness of my missing mates, because I felt it and we share a bond," Dave said.

"16 is awfully young to get married," Harper commented.

"It's not even legal without parental consent," Brooke added.

"There weren't such laws in place back when Emily and I were originally born and a lot of teenagers got married at 14 or 15," Dave told his offspring who gasped in shock.

"Mortals only had so many childbearing years and even if that wasn't true for our kind that doesn't mean that Dave and I didn't know we were meant to be," Emily said.

"We fell in love at an early age, because we already knew we would get married someday, even if we didn't have to get married at 16," Dave said.

"Our parents certainly approved, even if we didn't leave the village where we had grown up for a number of years," Emily said smiling, as she remembered.

"At least we got our own little cottage to ourselves," Dave said.

"Things sure were different back then," Brooke said.

"Yeah, they were," Emily said. "There weren't as many laws for one thing, especially those having to deal with protecting children."

"As we've already said a lot of times children married young, because they needed to produce as many offspring as possible, since so many infants died either at birth or at a young age," Dave said.

"Of course, immortal infants didn't die nearly as often, but since we didn't really gain our immortality until we were at least 5 it could still happen," Emily said.

"That's not true anymore though, because technology has advanced to the point that unless there's a serious problem infants just don't die by the hundreds anymore like was true in the past, at least in most countries," Dave added

"So we don't really develop our immortality until we're five or so?" Harper asked.

"Let's just say by that time an immortal child is not going to be carried off by one of the various diseases that were prevalent at the time Emily and I were born," Dave offered. "You really start to develop your immortality by the time you're two or so, but you're not fully and immortal until you're five."

"Still, a simple flu or cold isn't going to develop in an immortal child," JJ said. "We also didn't have to worry about any baby we had developing something like colic and the same will be true for you and whoever your mates are."

"So we tend to be really healthy even as infants?" Brooke asked.

"Yes, you do," Penelope said. "I have to admit I certainly didn't miss the part of parenting, where you got sick, because if one of you got sick then all the children we had at the time also likely would've caught it."

"And then, it likely would've been picked up by us adults so all of us are certainly grateful that's one thing about being immortals that's a godsend," Emily said. "I certainly didn't miss never catching a cold or the flu or something more serious."

"Especially in Emily's and my case considering when we were born. Getting sick back then often led to your death as medical technology was very primitive. Hell! There was really no technology or at least very little of it. People died back then at a young age much more frequently than they do today at least from some disease. We can cure so many things now in this time that we couldn't back when Emily and I were born," Dave said.

"You can see why Dave and I are glad we never got sick, because who knows if we would catch something that eventually killed us or one of the doctors killed us, because doctoring was very primitive back then," Emily said with a reminiscent look in her eyes.

"However, this doesn't mean that you don't need to be careful whenever you do have children, because children tend to get into trouble and just because they are fully Immortal by five doesn't mean they can't die due to an accident. It takes time to gain wisdom and at five or even ten a child doesn't think about consequences," JJ said.

"A child can run out into the street for example and be run over by a car and I doubt very much that we would be able to save the child in question unless of course, it was only a minor accident and the car had stopped or at least slowed down, so the child wasn't to badly hurt," Emily said.

"Most of them don't have any sense, any idea of the danger they are placing themselves in," Penelope agreed, "with some exceptions."

"Yes, some children can be sensible and don't get into as much trouble as possible," Dave agreed. "A lot of them though, don't believe in their own mortality."

"So our immortality saves us from most things, but not from sheer stupidity," Harper suggested.

"I wouldn't call it that," Penelope shrugged, "Most children just aren't known for thinking before they act as that takes time and maturity."

"Still, immortal children survive many things that would kill a mortal child," JJ said.

"But you know Dave was able to anticipate a lot of things, because he does have brothers and sisters that he and I helped watch over sometimes," Emily said.

"In any case, now that everybody's ready we really need to go we'll be late for our reservation," Dave said. "We can talk more about this later if you like and you can always come to any of us for advice just like always."

"We will, if we need to," Brooke said.

"Yeah, we will," Harper agreed. "I'm sure we will still need your advice from time to time."

"Well, you know how to contact us if you need to," Emily said smiling.

"Well, right now, we're staying in the area, but that probably won't be a permanent thing," said Brooke.

"Not now that we're done with our college education," Harper said smiling.

"Well, at least we got to see you fairly frequently, since you decided to go to the university here in New Orleans," JJ smiled.

"Like that matters," Harper snorted. "I'm sure you would've still visited at least every few months, even if we had gone to college somewhere far away."

"You're probably right about that," Dave grinned. "You were the last children that we were going to have after all and since you are I'm afraid I'm going to have an even harder time than normal letting you go."

"So do you think we'll find our mates, soon?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know, sweetie, it's certainly possible," Emily answered before the others could. "Dave and I were mates from the moment of our births, but I am afraid that doesn't happen too often."

"Of course, it's very possible you'll find your mates in a decade or two instead of having to wait centuries, but I wouldn't count on it," Dave warned them not unsympathetically. "Realistically, Ilithyia never wants to make anything to easy, because then you don't appreciate it like you should. I remember how much trouble it was to locate JJ, even when we finally found what city she was in."

"Penny was a little easier, although we had a hard time finding out that she was located in New York. Once we got there she showed up within a week already knowing where her destiny lay."

"Yeah, we know all about that already," Brooke agreed smiling.

"Yeah, we told it to you often enough as a bedtime story," Penelope smiled.

"You know we both got a full talent to see the future," Harper mentioned.

"So maybe we'll see when our mates are going to be born," Brooke said.

"I wouldn't count on it, sweetie," Penelope gently chided her two youngest. "The gods only show you what they think you need to see and from what I've learned from other seers who are immortal they don't really like showing you your own future unless it's a rather unusual situation."

"The gift is meant to be used to help others," Dave added. "Though sometimes it does warn you if there is a dangerous situation developing around you that you're unaware of."

"That's too bad, but I guess I can understand," Brooke said.

"We still have a lot to learn," Harper added.

"And that is the beginning of wisdom," JJ said smiling, as they pulled up at the restaurant.

"We can discuss this later, as this is a happy occasion," Dave said, as he parked the car.

Both twins nodded solemnly and got out of the car taking their father's arms so that they could all walk into the restaurant together.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

Harper stared at the tall, dark handsome man that was sitting at one of the tables, trying not to be too obvious about it. He was sitting with several other people all men and Harper wondered if he was married or not.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" Dave questioned his daughter.

"Nothing," Harper said shaking her head.

"You were staring at that man that's sitting across from us," Penelope said quietly, as she observed how her daughter reacted to that statement.

Harper couldn't help herself she blushed.

"Well, it looks like a little princess has a crush on this man," Emily grinned.

"I don't think it's a crush," Dave said seriously, as he studied his daughter intently. "He's your mate isn't he?"

"Yes," Harper and nodded knowing that she couldn't lie, because her father would know if she did. David Rossi was very good at telling when somebody was being completely truthful or not. "Or at least I believe so."

"If you felt a connection to him when you saw him the first time then he's definitely your mate," JJ said. "Dave certainly felt a connection to me the minute he laid eyes on me and so did Emily due to her feeling the connection through him. Of course, I was only strongly attracted to him, but I definitely didn't feel that connection, because I was still human at the time. Once I was immortal though, I definitely felt the connection that had been described to me."

"Yes, that's what I felt," Harper said and Dave nodded, as that's what he had expected.

"What are the odds?" Emily asked quietly. "An immortal finding their mate this soon is nearly unheard of, though it has happened a few times.

"I have to find a way to meet him," Harper said urgently.

"We know, sweetie," Penelope told her daughter gently.

"We'll help you," JJ told her daughter in every way.

"Have a little patience sweetheart," Dave told his daughter quietly. "We'll figure out a way for you to meet him, okay?"

Harper nodded trying to contain her impatience knowing that her family would help her to meet her mate. She certainly hadn't expected to meet her mate on the day she turned 30 and it was clear that none of her family had expected it either. That didn't mean however, they wouldn't help as much as they could.

"Wow! You're so lucky to meet you mate this soon," Brooke who had been silent said.

"I haven't met him yet," Harper said.

"You will," Brooke said.

"I don't even know his name," Harper said sounding unusually pessimistic

"Don't worry so much, sweetie," Dave soothed her. "You know who your mother is."

Harper was confused for a few seconds, but then she remembered that Penelope Garcia Rossi was probably the best hacker in the world, as she had never been caught by the police or the government. In fact, they didn't even know she existed, as she was simply that good. She was quite good on a computer herself and her mother had taught her and her sister a lot.

"But we don't even know his name," Harper said plaintively.

"A few dollars to the maître d' will change that," Dave said calmly. "If there's one thing I've learned in my life is that money talks. Most people can always use more money and it's not exactly uncommon to offer someone an incentive."

"You mean a bribe, don't you?" Emily suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"Call it what you want," Dave said smiling. "I simply call it a reward, a tip or an incentive."

"Schematics," JJ suggested smiling a little. She hadn't used to like the thought of having to bribe someone, even when it was necessary, but she had learned since then that it opened numerous doors that otherwise would remain firmly shut. A lot of people could always use a little extra money to help feed their families or to pay bills and a lot of jobs really didn't bring in very much at all, especially considering how expensive some thing's were like medical bills. Some people did have big medical bills either for themselves for some reason or for someone in their family. Someone in their family could have some kind of long running illness, like cancer for example and treatments for it were expensive. Some people didn't have insurance or insurance wouldn't pay for all the treatments only some of them, which JJ thought was very sad, but unfortunately, the way of the world.

Dave just shrugged not responding, as he knew better than to argue with any of his wives by now, as they would make him pay if he made them mad enough. Serious arguments not playful ones that made every day life a little bit less stagnant.

Even the twins were smiling a little and Harper was able to forget her anxiety for a few minutes about meeting her mate due to the byplay, which had likely been her family's intent in the first place. She certainly wouldn't put it past them as they could be very devious when the situation required it.

Families such as theirs weren't so unusual in this century as such groups like their's had been legalized over a hundred years ago now, long before she or her sister Brooklynn had been born. Still, it had relieved her family she knew that they no longer had to be so careful about how they acted in public, even if they were used to playing different roles. They had to be very careful for centuries because group marriages weren't exactly legal and even if technically, dad was married to all of his mates, they had happened so far apart that nobody would ever discover that fact.

"It doesn't matter what you call it, it still gets the job done," Penelope said, just as anxious as her daughter. She wanted more than anything for her daughter to be happy and if the handsome man that was sitting at the other table was indeed her mate she would never truly be happy again without him. It didn't matter that both her daughters had only today turned of age or at least were now considered fully mature in immortal society, Penelope was well aware that Harper would never be fully content again without her mate beside her now that she had set eyes on him for the first time. She only hoped that her daughter wouldn't be heartbroken if this guy happened to have a wife and a family. Unless of course the marriage was unhappy, which was possible certainly, but unhappy or not that the guy had enough integrity and fortitude to stick it out, as some people did for one reason or another. Some did it only for the sake of their children and others got divorced and took their children with them, which some spouses fought in court. It never even occurred to Penelope that this man, her daughter's mate might be immortal.

Well, there was no point in speculating, Penelope knew they would just have to see what the situation was.

The Rossis finished their dinner at a leisurely pace and Harper tried to be patient. She kept an eye on the table that contained her mate, though she did her best to be unobtrusive about it.

Finally the table that held her mate left and Harper tried her best not to let anyone know how much that upset her, but of course, her family was well aware she was.

"Don't worry, sweetie," Dave said holding his daughter's wrist gently in a gesture of affection and understanding. "All of us have it under control. Remember, we know how important this is to you, because I certainly would've been unhappy if one of my mate's had rejected me. Of course, I had more than one and though I wouldn't have been as happy without all of them, at least I wouldn't have been miserable."

"I know you didn't expect this considering that you just became fully of age in our society, but anyway I'm happy this happened now because that means you won't have a chance to be lonely," Penelope said.

"True, as I was never truly lonely thanks to Emily, but most of the time it doesn't happen that way," Dave said. "That's not to say I wasn't anxious to find my other two mates, just that I never had the chance to be truly unhappy thanks to Emily."

"That goes both ways you know," Emily said and Dave nodded in agreement.

Dave paid the check without comment, as his family made their way to the car while Dave stayed behind and had a word with the maître d'.

The maître d' was more than willing to reveal the name of the man one Dave passed him $200 which was a lot of money. Dave thanked the man and headed out to the car to join his family.

"So?" Harper asked anxiously.

"Let's get in the car and I'll tell you," Dave suggested and Harper nodded knowing that was a very sensible suggestion. Once in the car nobody would be able to overhear them even if that possibility was a slim one, as there was nobody around at the moment. Still, Harper and her sister had been taught how to be very careful about discussing certain things out in public and this was one of those times. She couldn't forget her lessons this because of her anxiety, as it would be a very bad habit to fall into.

Her dad had just subtly reminded her that she still needed to remember to be careful no matter how anxious she was.

"His name is Aaron Hotchner," Dave began. "He apparently eats there at least once every few weeks, always with a large group of friends or business associates."

"Now that I have a name he should be relatively easy to locate in fact, you could do it yourself," Penelope told Harper. "However, in this case, I think I had better, because you might make some kind of error that will get us noticed this because of your anxiety."

"Probably wise," Dave decided and Harper didn't bother to protest knowing she wouldn't win. Besides, as much as Harper hated to admit it, her parents were likely correct and she wouldn't want to put her family in danger, just because she made some kind of mistake due to being so anxious and impatient.

"Let's go home," JJ suggested quietly. "Harper is going to be anxious and worried until she's actually met her mate and we all know it. The fact that this happened at such a young age doesn't matter, even if it is rather shocking."

"Yes, it is shocking," Dave admitted. "Still, it has happened before, just not very often."

Dave drove out of the parking lot and headed for their home, which was not as big as the one that they'd had to New York several centuries ago, but then it hadn't really needed to be considering that there would be no more children. Still, it was pretty big, much bigger than most family homes and was located in a private area that you had to be signed in at the gate in order to enter. All of them certainly appreciated the privacy and that there were several groups like their own also helped. All of them had been very relieved when group marriages had been made legal as that meant that none of them had to be so careful when they were outside the privacy of their home.

The economy had certainly appreciated the influx of cash when group marriages had been made legal and so had to government as there were certain fees that had to be paid if you were going to go into marriage with more than one person.

The restaurant was a no more than a 10 minute drive away from their home so soon he was pulling into their driveway.

"I'll get started right away soon as I change," Penelope promised her daughter. "Their can't be too many Aaron Hotchner's in New Orleans considering the last name is rather unusual."

"Come on, Harper, we'll get changed to," Brooke urged her sister. "There's no point of messing up our nice clothes."

"Yeah, yeah, you are right," Harper finally agreed, as she followed her sister into the house and up to their shared room.

Dave watched them go, feeling nearly as anxious as his daughter, because he wanted more than anything for her to be happy and he knew very well that she wouldn't be unless Aaron Hotchner became a permanent part of her life.

He would make it happen if he possibly could and it didn't matter that Harper and Brooklynn had just reached they're coming of age within the immortal society, because 30 was still more than old enough to get married, have a family, though in Harper's case children were going to be many more years in the future.

Still, they would eventually come and Dave would certainly spoil them when they did, but there was no need to worry about that right now. Right now, he needed to keep his daughter as calm as possible and he knew everybody would help him with that task.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Found him," Penelope said softly knowing that Harper was anxiously waiting.

Harper was immediately at her side so fast that seemed instantaneous.

"What did you find?" Harper asked trying to contain her anxiety.

"Well, it wasn't hard, because I was right there was only one Aaron Hotchner. His last name isn't very common at least not in New Orleans. Let's see, he's a banker..." Penelope began.

Harper listened as her mother gave her all the details that she had managed to dig up in just a few minutes. Suddenly the two women saw a symbol on the screen that was very invisible unless a certain program was run that brought up hidden things. Both gasped in shock.

The symbol was a backward Z that was slightly tilted downwards and also had a line through the middle of it. This symbol was one that Immortals had been using for a long time, which meant that this guy was immortal, for the symbol wouldn't be there otherwise. Most people didn't even really know about runes these days unless they were some kind of archaeologist or a professor of ancient symbols or an amateur that was interested in that kind of thing. No, most people had no idea why different symbols from different cultures meant anymore and not many people were interested in studying them.

"Well, I think your problem is solved, sweetie," Penelope told her daughter smiling. "This guy is immortal or that symbol wouldn't be there. It isn't a symbol that's visible either, unless you run a certain type of program that I created a long time ago, after I had gotten involved with your father. Most immortals have this program on their computers now. It's possible that some of them don't, though Dave tried to distribute it as widely as possible. This is your mate's personal internet page, which is why he probably felt safe putting that symbol, even if it is invisible to most people."

"And most other people won't recognize what it meant if they happened to find it," Harper realized.

"Exactly! I won't say it would be impossible to discover invisible symbols, well, besides, the programming language that makes up a page on the Internet, but they're other people out there that are good at creating programs that aren't immortal, so it's still possible. I can't even give you the odds of how likely it is that some person that's good at creating programs thinks about doing one similar to the one I did. At least if someone does discover the symbol that isn't immortal they're not going to understand what it means."

"I understand," Harper said.

"It's very likely he noticed you, but he couldn't do anything because of the men he was with and I'm sure that if he did notice he's frantically trying to find out who you are. It won't take him long to track down an address and if he doesn't appear on out doorstep sometime in the next couple of days then you can go see him."

"I suppose I can wait that long," Harper sighed having relaxed when she found out that her mate was also immortal like yourself. All the complication she had been imagining of telling someone who was mortal about herself were apparently not going to materialize. Since this Aaron Hotchner was indeed immortal as soon as they met for the first time there would be no getting to know each other until after the bond was complete. Still, Harper wasn't worried for no Immortal would ever harm their mate, which meant that Aaron could likely avoid a lecture from her father about treating her right and taking care of her, because no one immortal would do anything else with their mate.

"How's it going?" Dave asked sticking his head in to the master bedroom where Penelope and Harper were.

"We are fine, dad," Harper said calmly and Dave immediately noticed that his daughter had relaxed a lot.

"So what's the word?" Dave asked looking at his wife.

"This Aaron Hotchner is immortal for one thing," Penelope revealed and Dave relaxed at that.

"Well, that solves a whole bunch of problems I was afraid we were going to have to deal with," Dave said.

"It's never easy to tell someone you're immortal," Harper agreed, knowing that's what her father meant. "That's partly what was causing my anxiety, though mostly, I just wanted to meet him. Now though, that I know he's immortal that avoids a lot of problems I was imagining. Mom believes that he'll be knocking on our door within a couple of days, as she thinks that he might have noticed me, but couldn't do anything due to being surrounded by others."

"That's possible certainly, even likely," Dave agreed coming further into the room.

"If he doesn't I have his address and you can just show up on his doorstep," Penelope promised. "I don't think he's going to turn you away if you do considering that we now know he's like us."

"Absolutely not! No immortal is going to turn away their soulmate," Dave agreed. "I know it's going to be hard to wait for 48 hours, but it will pass fast. I certainly won't be surprised if he shows up sometime tonight or at least early tomorrow morning. It's not like he's going to have any trouble finding our address, even if we're not in the phone book."

"It won't be as hard now that I know he's not mortal," Harper said and Dave nodded.

"Yeah, I remember how hard it was for me as two of my mates were mortal. Your mother wasn't a problem, as she already knew where her destiny lay, but JJ on the other hand certainly didn't."

"That's what I was worrying about and what made me so anxious, well, mostly," Harper said. "It's not that I don't really want to meet him, but what caused most of my anxiety was the thought of having to explain about Immortals. I mean this is the 30th century after all."

"Well, at least I'm not going to have to give this Aaron Hotchner a talk about treating you properly since no immortal would do anything else, not to their mate anyway, even though we have our deviants to," Dave said.

"You're thinking that this Aaron wouldn't be a mate for our little girl if he was a deviant," said Penelope following her mate's thought processes easily.

"No, because they have to be at least similar in goals, personalities, morals and ethics, not exact of course, but similar. There's no way that Harper would be interested in anybody that hurts others for example, even if he doesn't hurt her," Dave said and both ladies nodded.

"And that kind of person wouldn't match me personalitywise," Harper said and Dave nodded seeing that his daughter easily got the point he was trying to make.

"No, you and your sister were raised to respect others, no matter their station in life, but also to protect yourself if necessary. There's no way that you would be the mate of someone that would not respect others no matter how they were raised or how rich they were."

"Or how successful, which a lot of people don't do," Penelope added.

"Of course, you were also taught how to protect yourself from those that would take advantage of you, though I suspect Aaron will be very protective, because I certainly am of my mates," Dave said.

"That's the understatement of the century, probably the millennium," Penelope snorted, though she smiled as well. "Still, Emily, JJ and I certainly understand that overprotectiveness, considering we know what losing one or all of us will do to you. Of course, the same is true of Emily, JJ and I if anything were to happen to you, so we are just as overprotective."

"It's a mutual overprotectiveness and that's just fine," Dave said. "It's just the way that immortals and their mates are with each other. Now, I think it's time for all of us to get some sleep, as it's getting late and if this Aaron Hotchner doesn't show up sometime in the next couple of days then..."

"We'll go ahead with the plan of me showing up on his doorstep," Harper finished.

"Right. Personally, I won't be surprised if we get a knock on our door early tomorrow morning," Dave said.

"I don't think I'm going to sleep very well," Harper said with anxiety in her eyes.

"At least try, sweetie," Penelope urged her. "I know how anxious I was when I knew I was going to meet my destiny, but it turned out better than I had imagined and I already knew I was going to be very happy with Dave, Emily and JJ, which soon proved true. I know that I never would have been happy or at least not as happy without them in my life and so I'm glad I followed those dreams that my ancestors were sending me."

"And just think that you or none of your siblings would have been born if your mother had rejected her destiny," Dave added.

"Wasn't going to happen, but I did understand that I had a rather unusual viewpoint due to my partial seer ability," said Penelope. "Mortals sometimes can be seers to and even most humans have accepted that some people just have paranormal abilities."

"It was certainly a long time in coming," Dave said his voice dry. "Really, those with paranormal abilities are just another step in human evolution. They've been around since at least the 20th Century and probably longer. I thought it was way past time that mortals acknowledged those that have such abilities, even if I realized there's a lot of charlatans out there. Your sister is waiting for you in your room and I'm sure she'll want to talk to you before you both get some sleep," Dave gently suggested.

Harper knew that that was her signal to leave her parents to themselves and so she took the subtle hint.

"I know when I'm not wanted," Harper teased both her parents.

"You'll always be wanted, sweetie," Penelope told her seriously. "You and Aaron will always be welcome here."

"I know that, Brooke does too," Harper promised, smiling kissing both her parents on the cheek. "I'll see you all in the morning and I'll make sure I send Aunt Emily and Aunt JJ up."

"Thanks," Dave said.

"You're quite welcome, dad," Harper said before departing the master bedroom.

"Well, our daughter certainly knows how to take a hint," Penelope smiled and immediately was in Dave's arms.

"She just knows us well," Dave laughed, even as he kissed Penny senseless.

Neither even noticed when JJ and Emily came into the room closing the door behind them until they finally came up for air.

"I think it's time for bed," Emily suggested and everybody in the room agreed.

Of course, just because they were going to bed didn't mean they were going to sleep at least not for awhile, which was the main reason Harper had made herself scarce, as she had recognized the signs.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

"So?" Brooke asked anxiously immediately as soon as Harper entered their room.

"My mate is an Immortal," Harper immediately said as soon as she had joined her twin sister in the little sitting area that had been set up for their use. The room was quite large probably only a little smaller than the master bedroom, which was double the size of the normal ones. Harper thought this was perfectly understandable considering that there were four people living there. Harper knew that a wall had been knocked down to create her and Brooke's room. She now realized that her parents had done so, so they would have plenty of space, since they had decided to share and also because they had known that would be no more children for them, so there was no need to have too many extra rooms. There was still plenty of extra rooms and one had been turned into a sort of exercise room.

"He is?" Brooke's squealed excitedly.

"He is," Harper confirmed. "Mom, ran that program that finds hidden symbols and the symbol for us Immortals popped up, a kind of slanted backwards Z with a line through the middle. We both know that nobody ever uses runes unless they are Immortal."

"Well, I can see most you're anxiety with the situation has disappeared," Brooke said glad to see that her sister had calmed down considerably from several hours earlier.

"Most of my anxiety, as I'm sure you've already guessed, was the thought of having to explain to someone completely mortal that Immortals were real and that we've been around for thousands of years. I mean a lot of people still don't believe in those with paranormal powers, even if they've been proven to exist and even the government now believes that they're real. Actually, I'm sure the government is using them and probably has been ever since it was proven that paranormal powers did exist. I have no doubt that the governments of the world are using them in some capacity, even if that's not public knowledge."

"I always thought so," Brooke agreed.

"Now that I know that my mate is an Immortal things just got a lot simpler so most of my anxiety has disappeared. It's not that I'm not anxious to meet him, because you know I am, but I can wait a couple of days to see if he shows up here and if he doesn't, well, I'll just appear on his doorstep."

"It's not like he's going to turn you away," Brooke said, laughing at the very thought, her sister joining her in her merriment. There was no way an immortal was going to turn away their mate, unless they were completely insane.

"Exactly, but dad believes that he'll probably show up at an early hour, either tomorrow or the day after," Harper said.

"So that's why you waiting a couple of days," Brooke realized.

"That's why and because I happen to agree with them," Harper said. "Mom's pretty sure that Aaron noticed me in the restaurant, but he couldn't do anything considering that he was surrounded by his business associates, clients or whatever."

"So what does he do?" Brooke asked.

"He's a banker and I have no idea if this is a first career for him or if he's had several careers. I have no idea how old he is, I mean his real age, not the age that's listed on the website we found."

"Well, you'll find those things out once you meet," Brooke suggested.

"Yeah, I will...eventually," Harper added.

"I already know the first thing you too will be doing," Brooke grinned. "There's no need to draw me a diagram."

"No, we stopped being virgin's long time ago," Harper agreed.

"Well, least you won't have to be as careful with Aaron, as you had to be with all those mortal men."

"Yeah, I didn't want any man to get too attached to me unless they were my mate," Harper said.

"At least we don't have some of the problems that men have as they need to be even more careful," Brookes said.

"Yeah, they can start to turn someone Immortal just by spurting their seed into them too many times," Harper agreed. "I know dad at least was responsible, but since he had Aunt Emily from the time he was a child that sort of situation never popped up with him."

"But other Immortals aren't so lucky to have their mate grow up with them," Brooke said.

"No, from all we've been taught, since we were teenagers mostly Immortals don't find they're mate for decades at least and usually longer than that," Harper said.

"In this case, you were lucky, I only hope I'm as lucky," Brooke said looking envious.

"I certainly didn't expect it," Harper laughed. "Seeing Aaron for the first time hit me like a ton of bricks."

"We've been told that's the way it happens whenever you see your mate for the first time," said Brooke and Harper nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but I certainly didn't expect it to be so sudden or the connection so strong," Harper admitted. "I hope you find your mate soon to Brooke. It was simply the most amazing feeling, that connection. It felt like we were simply meant to be together and that I would never be completely happy without him in my life."

"I hope to experience that feeling someday," Brooke said wistfully.

"I hope you do too, because I know you'll never be totally and completely happy if you don't," Harper said.

"Well, at least I don't really know what I'm missing," Brooke said.

"We should get some sleep, although I don't know how successful I'll be," Harper finally suggested. "For all I know Aaron will show up at 6 o'clock in the morning or even earlier."

"That's hardly a decent hour," Brooke groaned dramatically.

"For you it isn't, but most of us are early birds," Harper teased her twin.

"Don't I know it," Brooke shot back. "We probably should go to bed, because you're right who knows if this Aaron Hotchner will show up really early in the morning and it's already after 11."

"Good night," Harper said, as she stood up and started to prepare for bed.

"Good night, sis," Brooke said laying down, as she was already dressed in her nightgown, having gotten ready for bed before her sister was done with her mother.

It was only 10 minutes later that Harper ordered the lights off after having already climbed into bed and despite the fact she didn't believe she'd be able to sleep she was out like a light only a few minutes later.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

It was only 6:30 a.m. when the doorbell rang and luckily, everyone except Brooke was up and dressed, as most of the Rossis being early risers.

"Why don't you go answer the door, sweetheart?" JJ suggested to Harper. "It's not going to be anybody else at this hour."

"Not likely," Dave agreed, as he started to clean up the breakfast dishes. "I'll fix Brooke something later once she's finally up."

"She can fix something for herself," JJ told Dave with a mock severe look. Dave looked a little guilty, as he had taught all his children how to cook and not just the females.

"I have to agree she's not a child anymore," Penelope said. "If she can't be up when you fix breakfast for everyone else she'll just have to fend for herself."

"You did teach all your children how to cook," Emily added, "and Brooke is a very good one."

Dave didn't have a chance to respond, as Harper suddenly appeared in the kitchen with the same man they had all seen last night at the restaurant.

"Welcome to our home," Dave greeted the man, extending his hand for a shake.

"Well, let's like you've been expecting me," Aaron said with a little smile.

He already knew that the family that was sitting at their leisure in the kitchen were Immortal, as he had seen the backwards Z with a line through it on their mailbox and since only Immortals used this symbol somewhere outside their homes Aaron knew that this family understood what his presence meant.

"We were," Penelope said honestly. "Harper knew when she first saw you that you were her mate, but it's not like we could do anything in the middle of a public place."

"We didn't know you were Immortal until we looked you up and ran a program that shows hidden symbols," Emily added.

"I'm the one that convinced her to wait for a day or two as I just knew you would find us," said Penelope. "I was sure you had noticed her and if I had happened to be wrong I had your address."

Aaron snorted at that, but one of Harper's mothers was absolutely right he had noticed the beautiful woman sitting at the table with her family. He'd had a hard time getting through the rest of his business meeting, but he had managed. He'd immediately contacted a friend of his on the police force to help him find the Rossis address, as he had bribed the maître d' of the restaurant for their name.

"As I'm sure you know I'm David Rossi," Dave introduced himself formally. "This is Emily, Jennifer and Penelope. Penny is Harper's mother.

"Aaron Hotchner," Aaron introduced himself formally.

"Why don't you sit down and have some breakfast if you haven't had any," Dave offered.

"There are plenty leftovers because our daughter Brooke hasn't yet dragged yourself out of bed," JJ added.

"She's always been a heavy sleeper, and hibernates like the proverbial bear," Emily added grinning.

"She had a very hard time getting up in the morning back when she had school," Penelope said smiling, as she remembered.

"You can meet her later, because she's not the easiest person to wake up and I don't want to have to be the one to do it," Harper added.

"If you're sure you don't mind I'll be happy to join you for breakfast, even though I see you're mostly done," Aaron said.

"We don't mind, as it only would've been put in the fridge," Dave said. "All three of these ladies just reminded me that I don't need to cook for my grown daughter who can cook for herself."

"We simply reminded him that if Brooke can't get up to join the family for breakfast then why should her father fix a separate breakfast just for her? She's not a child anymore and she can cook, because Dave taught all his children," Penelope explained and Aaron nodded thinking it was sensible. If this Brooke was only a year or two younger or older than his mate and she was definitely grown up and should be able to take care of herself.

"Yeah, my twin, always likes to lay abed," Harper finally spoke up. "Even I don't like to wake her up."

Aaron looked rather startled at the news for twins were very, very rare among Immortals.

"Yes, we know how rare they are," Penelope spoke up seeing Aaron's rather startled look.

"Sometime soon we can explain about how we all came together, but right now I think you two would rather be alone," Dave spoke up and watched as his daughter at least blushed while Aaron simply nodded, even as he shot an adoring look Harper's way.

"None of us really have a hold on Harper anymore as she's 30 now and therefore, considered fully mature," JJ added.

"Yesterday was actually my birthday," Harper said.

"And thanks to you seeing Aaron we never did give you your presents," Penelope mentioned.

"We can wait until Brooke gets up or we can give them to you now."

"I know that Brooke and I have always shared a birthday, but since she wants to lie abed..." Harper said.

"I'll go get them," JJ offered.

"You can wait until your sister is up if you like," Aaron offered.

"She won't be up for at least an hour, probably an hour and a half," Harper said shaking her head. "She didn't bother to set her alarm clock like she should have and in this case I can't really blame her, because we were up past 11 just talking."

"She's always liked to sleep as late as possible," Penelope said. "We can give her, her presents when she finally gets up."

"In that way we're just total opposites," Harper said. "I've always been like dad who's always been an early riser and I'm not sure who Brooke is like."

"Your Uncle Darrin, who died a long time before you were ever born," Penelope said. "Darrin was my younger brother and I also had an older one named Andy, but Darrin was the one that liked to stay in bed and never wanted to get up for school. It was always such a struggle to get him awake. He got better in later years, as he along with Andy ran the farm where I grew up."

"I've never heard you talk about either one," Harper said looking at her mother with an appraising look.

"I suppose I should've told you and Brooke about them a long time ago, but it was always painful thinking about them," Penelope said, a look of sadness crossing her face. "I knew they would die someday and that day arrived sooner than I would've liked."

"We were close to both of them and their families for many years," Dave told Aaron who nodded. "They never knew about Emily and JJ, as we passed them off as my cousins."

"I told Dave that my brothers were much too traditional to ever accept the fact that he was sleeping with three women. They never would have understood about his relationship with all three of us, or understand why I didn't object," Penelope added.

"We wanted to keep peace in the family, wanted Penny to remain close to her brothers until they died," Emily added. "Whenever we went up to see them, which was a few times a year, JJ and I acted in the role of Dave's cousins."

"They lived a good long time to nearly 145 for Andy and 147 for Darrin," Dave said. "Really they lived about as long as possible back in the time they were born."

"I would like to learn more about them sometime soon, but not right now," Harper said.

"No, I think you should have more important things on your mind right now," Penelope said smiling a little sadly. "I know I should've told you about them before, but it was just too painful."

"You never get over losing someone you love no matter how natural it is," Aaron offered.

"That's true," Penelope sighed. "Thinking about them doesn't cause me as much pain or grief as it used to, but then it's been a very long time since they passed away. Still, what really hurts me the most is I can't go visit their descendants, because we all agreed, that once they passed away that we would simply be traveling or something until we gradually dropped contact."

"So you never told them about yourselves?" Aaron asked and everybody shook their heads.

"If I thought for a second that they would have accepted Dave's explanation I would've told them in a heartbeat," Penelope revealed. "Unfortunately, they never would as I was the only one that would ever have believed that something like Immortals existed. I had a rather unusual outlook and both my brothers were very traditional when it came to their view of marriage and relationships, as I said previously. It didn't help that back then, marrying more than one person was not yet legal. It being legal to marry several people didn't become so until after they had passed away."

"Why did you turn out so differently, mom?" Harper asked.

"Remember that story I told you when you were younger?" Penelope asked.

"Which one?" Harper asked. "You told Brooke and I a lot of stories."

"The one where I knew where my destiny lay," Penelope said and suddenly Harper understood what her mother was implying.

"Mom, means that she got the partial sight from her grandfather," Harper told Aaron. "She doesn't have visions, but she can see things that others can't. She can see auras for example which is part of a seer's ability, but she can also see other things like ghosts."

"I also often had feelings about people, which being able to see their auras also backs up. I can often tell when someone's dangerous," Penelope explained and Aaron who was listening intently nodded.

"The reason I knew where my destiny lay was that I started having dreams about these three," Penelope said yesterday Dave, Emily and JJ. "I know it was just my ancestors telling me where my destiny was and that if I wanted to be happy, truly happy, not just content then I would accept what they were offering me. For six months before I met these three was the only time I've ever had visions and I'm certainly glad, as they are more trouble then they are worth. I had always felt that my destiny would be a special one, so when I finally started having those dreams or visions if you prefer I knew that I had been right."

"So you already knew about Immortals then?" Aaron asked and Penelope nodded.

"There wasn't really any talking in my dreams, but I could still see auras, you know, so I knew that they weren't completely mortal. Their auras were much stronger and also unbroken unlike your normal mortal one, which is when I knew they were special. Of course, I didn't know how special until I became part of the family," Penelope said.

"She was living in New York, making a more than decent living for herself," Dave revealed.

"I was a computer specialist, good at finding holes in security systems and creating patches for them. I had a really lucrative deal with the biggest company at the time Nova," Penelope said. "As Dave said I made more than a decent living before I ever met these three."

"Here are your presents from all of us," JJ who had been listening to the conversation said taking several small boxes out of her pockets.

Harper ripped off the paper on one box already knowing it was some kind of jewelry and opened the lid while Aaron watched his mate tear into the wrapping paper. In the box was a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings and both had the backwards Z with a line through it with the diamonds hanging off the ends of the Z.

"They're gorgeous," Harper said admiringly.

"Glad you like them I had them especially made," Penelope said smiling. "Turning 30 is special for our race and it really needs to be celebrated. We celebrated with all of our children, even if we had to go to where they were in order to do so."

Harper opened the next one to find a lovely pin that had the Immortal symbol as well.

"This is the traditional gift for when you reach 30, so other Immortals will recognize you as one of them," Dave explained. "I always wear mine," Dave added showing his daughter his lapel. "I also have a ring with the symbol on it."

"I've seen you wear both of them at different times," Harper realized. "I knew what the symbol meant as I've seen all of you wear them whenever we are you out in public, but I never realized that it was so important."

"It's very important as it identifies you to others of our race," Aaron said. "I have a ring and lapel pin to. I always wear the ring to work, just in case one of my customers turns out to be Immortal."

"The jewelry is also discreet enough that most people won't even notice unless they are observant," Emily who had been mostly silent said.

The third and final box contained a lady's ring with the same symbol.

"Thank you all," Harper said as she hug and kiss to the family.

"You're quite welcome, sweetie," Emily said and the other three nodded.

"It was our pleasure," Dave said smiling. "And yes, your sister will get the same as soon as she drags herself out of bed," Dave added at Harper's inquiring look causing her to grin. It was as if her father had read her mind, but no, she just knew that he was an extremely perceptive man and it helped that he knew his daughters.

Aaron finished the delicious breakfast that Dave had fixed and started to take his plate to the dishwasher.

"We'll take care of that," Dave said, as he shooed him and Harper towards the front door. "I know you two are anxious to get to the bonding, but you're welcome here anytime. Perhaps, in a week or so once you had a chance to get to know each other better you can come for dinner."

"Sounds wonderful," Aaron said smiling.

"See you in a few days," Harper said.

"See you, sweetie," Dave said kissing his daughter's cheek. "Brooke will be sorry that she missed meeting Aaron, but it's her fault if she wants to lay in bed like a slug."

Harper grinned at that, because she totally agreed with her dad about her twin.

"She's your responsibility now," Dave told Aaron who nodded solemnly.

Harper said nothing knowing that this was just a ritual that happened whatever any Immortal met their mate, but only when their family was present. Her dad was in a way handing her off to her mate and basically saying that she was now his responsibility just like Aaron was hers. This ritual didn't happen every single time, because a lot of times mates met when there was no other family around, though the concept was still the same.

"I packed a few things for you," JJ told Harper. "It's waiting for you by the front door. "Whenever you want the rest of your things call us and come over and we'll help you pack."

"Thanks, Aunt JJ," Harper said kissing her cheek.

"You're quite welcome, sweetie," JJ said smiling. "Now scat."

Harper nodded and took Aaron's hand and the two of them walked towards the front door, Aaron picking up the small suitcase on their way to his car.

"Well, we won't be seeing either one of them for a few days at least," Penelope said looking rather sad, as Harper was nearly the last of her babies.

"Isn't it you that reminded me that children grow up?" Dave inquired of his mate.

"Yeah, they do," Penelope said. "Still, I can't help but be a little sad that she now has a mate of our own, even if I'm looking forward to grandchildren in 70 years of course."

"Don't think Emily and I didn't feel that way as well when the last of our children grew up and were out on their own," JJ said.

"I know you did," Penelope said. "Still, Brooke won't hang around for long you know and then all our children will have left the nest."

"Harper and Brooke haven't been here for a large part of the last dozen years anyway," Dave pointed out.

"True, but at least they visited frequently, since they were going to university right here in New Orleans," Emily said.

"Yeah, I know," Dave said with a rather melancholy expression.

"Well, it seems that Aaron has a job here so at least he and Harper will be around for awhile anyway, maybe even a decade or two," Penelope said.

"That's something anyway," Dave said the brightening. "I'm sure they'll be over frequently for dinner. Hopefully, at least once a week."

"That's possible, but we'll have to work out arrangements with them later, as I'm sure they'll be very busy for the next few days anyway," JJ said remembering her own time alone with Dave so many centuries ago now.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

"I've been waiting a long time to finally meet my mate," Aaron said, as he slowly stripped Harper out of her clothes. "I'm over 500 years old, just so you know."

"We can talk later," Harper suggested, as she began to undo the buttons of Aaron's shirt.

Aaron nodded, for he to was very anxious to form the connection between himself and Harper. Since his mate was also Immortal the connection would be fully complete just as soon as he spurted his seed into her. There would be no need for him to turn his mate into what he was and he was certainly glad of it, though of course, he would've done so if necessary.

Harper undressed her mate as well and it wasn't long at all before both of them were completely nude standing in front of each other.

"Ready?" asked Aaron.

"I'm ready, more than ready actually," Harper told Aaron who nodded smiling broadly.

"Lay on the bed," Aaron suggested his tone rather gruff with his need.

Harper obeyed immediately and spread her legs waiting for Aaron. Aaron nearly immediately pounced and no, there was no other word for it, not one that fit. Aaron crawled up her body like a tiger, leaving intense pleasure in his wake. Harper let out a continuous purr of intense pleasure as Aaron expertly worked her body, finding all the spots where she was the most sensitive and giving them extra attention.

Harper was very soon nothing, but a puddle of goo, but she participated enthusiastically in everything that Aaron was doing to her. She left long scratch marks all over his back that bled slightly, but since they would be healed in less than a minute there would be no need to doctor them later.

Aaron let out his own sounds of pleasure, as he liked very much how his mate was a wildcat in bed and he certainly didn't mind the scratch marks that she was leaving on his back, or the ones on his chest either as they would heal quickly. Perhaps, they could try some other things at a later date, ones that caused pain at first, but soon turned to intense pleasure.

Finally, he could wait no longer and he entered his mate for the first time, instantly releasing his very over-engorged cock into her body. The connection completed itself in one blinding instant of pure bliss that seemed to last for an eternity and beyond.

"More?" Harper asked plaintively looking up at him with such hope in her expression that he nearly laughed out loud.

"Anything you want is yours, particularly when it comes to making love to you," Aaron said very seriously, as he started making love to his mate again. "You're mine now for eternity."

Aaron's tone was extremely possessive, but Harper knew just how to answer him so she did.

"You are very well aware I'm yours completely," Harper answered. "Cheating isn't possible considering that we're both Immortal and the bond completed the first time you spurted your semen into me, just minutes ago. Now if I had been human and you Immortal then it certainly would've been possible for me to cheat until the bond was complete, which would've meant that I would have been fully Immortal when that happened."

"I know it," Aaron promised her his expression tender and loving. "I've been waiting for you for a very long time."

"I'm certainly glad you found me," Harper answered, as Aaron spurted his seed into her again.

The two of them made love throughout the night and most of the next day before finally falling asleep curled around each other in blissful contentment.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Harper woke immediately and completely and remembered precisely what happened the night before. She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face, as she remembered the night and day of lovemaking and it was really too bad that Immortals had such trouble having children or she just knew she'd be pregnant right now. Still, children would come in their own time and she and Aaron would have seven or so decades to themselves before that occurred. She had certainly been no virgin before Aaron, but she also hadn't been that experienced either.

"Good morning," Aaron said, as he opened his eyes to stare at the gorgeous woman that was his mate.

"Morning," Harper said, as she kissed him softly.

Aaron accepted the kiss with pleasure and immediately deepened it, causing Harper to groan as her lust immediately began to rise for the man laying beside her.

"Hungry?" Aaron inquired.

"Starving," Harper admitted, as her stomach growled making her blush in embarrassment.

"So am I," Aaron admitted smiling. "I'm not surprised, as we made love for a day and a half at least before we finally fell asleep."

"Yeah, I know," Harper said grinning rather sappily. "You're certainly welcome to do what you did to me over the last day or so anytime you like."

"I plan to," Aaron said smiling softly. "I'm sure we'll try a lot of different techniques over the next few decades just to keep our sex life interesting. Let's shower together and then I'll take you to breakfast."

"I can cook," Harper mentioned. "My dad made sure of that."

"I know, I remember," Aaron said, "but we need to be seen in public as a couple and then eventually maybe in six months or so we can get married."

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Harper agreed.

"The fact, that we both look basically the same age will only help us," Aaron added.

"Yes, some people tend to be nosy," Harper said knowing this from experience.

"It doesn't really matter what people think since we are both adults," Aaron said, "but still I want to do things properly. Mostly just for appearances."

"Okay, I understand that," Harper agreed. "At least we're not going to have to worry about children for 70 or so years."

"Which is a shame," Aaron said.

"Yeah, it is," Harper agreed. "Don't you need to go to work today?"

"No, I took the next week off for personal reasons," Aaron explained. "When I first saw you at Bernard's I knew you were the one and then I had to locate you no matter what. Luckily, that wasn't that hard to do, but after I called my friend at the police I called my boss next and told him that I needed a week's leave for personal reasons. Since I never take time off, except a day or two here and there my boss didn't have a problem with it. I think my boss was actually glad that I was taking some personal time, because I'm something of a workaholic or at least I used to be. With you in my life though, things are going to be different."

"Well, it looks like we have a few days before you have to go back to work then," Harper said smiling. "I understand perfectly the reasons why you were such a workaholic before, considering I know how hard it is to keep busy if you're centuries old, especially if you don't have a mate to spend time with. I've seen my parents and aunts go through moments of boredom more than once until they find something to occupy them."

"It happens to all Immortals, especially those that are centuries old," Aaron agreed. "Of course, having a mate does help a lot or at least that's what I've heard and also seen for myself with my parents and grandparents."

"I can say the same as my grandparents and great-grandparents are just as happy together as they've always been," Harper agreed. "Of course, I don't see them as much as I would like to, but they do visit us and they even babysat Brooke and me when we were little while my parents were on vacation. Mom, dad and my aunts were gone for a couple of months back when Brooke and I were six or seven I believe and then they did it again when we were like 13. After that, Brooke and I went off to college and I know they took another trip once we were out of the house and basically living on our own as we had our own little apartment not far from campus."

"Seems rather unusual, but still, taking a break every 6 to 7 years whether you have kids or not is really necessary if you don't want to start snapping at each other. Daily life is stressful all by itself and if you can afford to get away then I think you should. Really, a lot of families that are wealthy do this and leave their kids with the au pair. From what I understand they do it much more frequently then your family did to where they're basically never around to raise their kid or kids," Aaron said.

"That your parents only took two long vacations while you were growing up and the other one after you were already out of the house says a lot about them. It says that they love you and your sister dearly, but they don't want to start snapping at you for no reason due to stress so these little breaks are much needed. A couple of months seems like a long time, but considering they only did it twice in all the years you were growing up isn't really very much if you think about it. They left you in the care of people they knew would take care of you in their absence and not just with a au pair."

"Yeah, they made sure they explained it to us the first time when they decided to take such a long vacation away," Harper said. "They always bought us plenty of souvenirs and called us every couple of days. Brooke and I didn't mind so much as our grandparents spoiled us rotten, you know?"

"That's what grandparents are supposed to do," Aaron said smiling.

"I know and they didn't often get a chance to look after us, as mom and dad and Aunts Emily and JJ took their duty seriously," Harper said. "They always took us places, made sure we did our homework and helped us with it if we needed them to, which we didn't. We actually could have skipped grades if mom and dad had allowed it."

"I'm glad they didn't, as that would've led to you and your sister getting bullied most likely," said Aaron. "Unfortunately, it happens all the time."

"We went to a swank private school, so no, it likely wouldn't have," Harper said. "None of the people that raised me think much of public schools I'm afraid. I'm actually glad that Brooke and I went to a private one, because certainly more was expected of the students then would have been in a public school. I feel that neither Brooke or I would've reached our full potential if we had gone to a public school, not without a lot of outside help, like a tutor."

"Which your father would've done I'm sure if necessary," Aaron said.

"Yeah, but I know he's glad he didn't have to, as getting someone you trust is not easy. A lot of people are still against group marriages and that's not always going to show up in an interview, not even if you're really good at reading someone. Brooke and I were teased a little about the fact that we had three mothers and one father, by some of the students, but the teachers put a stop to it immediately, which wouldn't have happened in a public school."

"I never thought about it from that angle," Aaron said thoughtfully. "But then, while I know group marriages exist I've never known anybody personally, well, besides your parents that were involved in one."

"Well, you know the someone's always going to object to something like group marriages being legal, but since the government did make it legal I don't see them retracting that, as it might just cause the economy to collapse," Harper suggested with a grin.

"Well, considering we have finally paid off the national debt after many hundreds of years and the legalization of group marriages was a major part of the reason why no, I can't see the government changing it's mind," Aaron said.

"Not after over 100 years of it being legal, because there would be riots in the streets," Harper said. "I can't see the people who are involved in one taking kindly to the government's decision."

"No, I can't either," Aaron immediately agreed smiling. "It would make what happened with the Mormons look like a Sunday picnic."

"Group marriages weren't legal back when that occurred either," Harper said.

"Still, it wasn't right what happened either. It was not exactly a proud moment in US history," Aaron said.

"Believe me, I agree," Harper said, "even though it happened a very long time before I was born. Still, mom and dad made sure I knew my history, especially surrounding polygamy "

Aaron nodded approvingly at this and was sure that he was going to like Harper's family, even more than he already did.

"So from a couple of comments you made you knew we were going to meet. How?" Harper asked.

"The usual way," Aaron explained calmly. "I went to a seer, about every five years or so. It was a seer I saw recently that told me the time was approaching where the two of us would meet."

"How long ago?" Harper inquired curiously.

"About a decade more or less," Aaron said. "They managed to give me a location of where you would be, so I came here and got a job at the bank. I went to another seer about five years ago when they confirmed what the other one had told me, so all I had to do was patiently wait."

"Well, your patience has now been rewarded," Harper smiled.

"Believe me, I know," Aaron smiled broadly. "I could have found you sooner I'm sure, but I knew we would meet in just a few years and I thought perhaps, that you weren't ready for me yet or perhaps, hadn't arrived in New Orleans. Of course, I had no idea that you had just had your 30th birthday or that you and your family had been living here for a long time."

"Yeah, I've lived here all my life, though my family and I have done quite a bit of traveling," Harper said. "Mostly in the summers when there was no school."

"Well, let's get that shower and then go to breakfast," Aaron suggested.

"Sounds just fine," Harper said not arguing, since it was a very sensible suggestion.

The two of them got off the bed and headed for the bathroom that was part of the master bedroom.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

The bathroom was very spacious, Harper discovered and was probably half the size of the bedroom. There was a small jet tub embedded in the floor in one part of the room and Harper couldn't wait to try it out, but that was for later.

"We'll try it out later," Aaron promised seeming to be able to read Harper's thoughts, but she knew that he had probably seen her glance at the jet tub and just guessed where her thoughts had gone. Most Immortals who had been Immortal for any length of time were incredibly perceptive, Harper knew. Her father certainly was, but so were all three women of the household.

The two of them shared a leisurely shower and made love slowly while also getting clean.

"It's a good thing that your Aunt thought about packing you a bag," Aaron said after they had stepped out of the shower.

"I'm actually surprised that they didn't insist that I do it last night or do it herself while I was busy," Harper admitted, "but then by the time my mother and I got done talking and locating you it was pretty late and we were all tired from the excitement. They're usually pretty organized. Aunt JJ is one of the most organized people I've ever known actually, though my father is far worse," Harper admitted.

"Being organized is a good thing, especially when you have such a large family," suggested Aaron.

"Yeah, I know," Harper said. "We don't really need to worry about that as we'll only be able to have one child at a time and it will be decades before we have another."

"Which is kind of sad, but I know that's the way that it had to be arranged and really it does make sense."

"Yeah, I always wanted three or four at a time at least," Harper admitted. "That's not going to be possible though unless we have more than one mate like my father."

"We do, can't you feel it," Aaron asked quietly. "That swirling blankness?"

"Now that you mention it..." Harper said intently. "I suppose I didn't notice, because I wasn't expecting to have more than one mate as that only happens once every few centuries."

"No, neither was I, but I don't think we need to worry about that right now as they probably won't be born for at least hundred years," Aaron said. "We'll go see a seer I know in a few weeks, once we settle into our new life. Perhaps, they'll be able to narrow it down."

"I expect our mate will probably be mortal. At least those are the odds," Harper commented, as she got dressed in a pair of jeans and a blouse.

"And we have no idea whether they'll be male or female," Aaron added, as he watched his soon to be wife get dressed appreciatively. "If they are male, you're the only one that's going to be having sex with him as I don't swing that way, but I won't get jealous, because of the bond and I'll likely join you in most cases."

"Well, I don't swing towards my own sex, either, so it goes both ways you know," answered Harper calmly. "My mother and aunts relationship is totally platonic and my father is the only one all three of them have sex with. That doesn't mean however, that they don't get along and that they don't think of each other as sisters."

"Of course they do, as the bond prevents jealousy," Aaron said. "I suspect they are really close, as they have been together for centuries."

"Yeah, they are," Harper agreed. "They do a lot of things together go to the vids, go shopping take breaks where they are gone for a few days. My father certainly doesn't seem to mind when they go off on their own."

"Mortal women do this to, if they can afford to that is," Aaron said. "They take some girlfriends and go somewhere like the spa for a few days."

"Yeah, I know me and Brooke have even participated a time or two, when they went in the summer and we weren't in college. I'm just kind of surprised that my father never objects," said Harper.

"I'm not," Aaron disagreed. "Your father knows that this keeps the girls happy, them having what is known as girl time. He knows that they love him, but they need time with just the three of them and perhaps, some of their girl children. It keeps the relationship healthy to have these periods where they're separated like this. I won't object if you want to take off with your sister for a few days just as an example. No matter how happy a relationship is, time alone or with others of your own sex is only healthy for it. It gives you time to realize what your priorities are, as that kind of thing can get lost in just day to day living. It helps keep the relationship in balance and it prevents major arguments from breaking out. It give couples time to decompress to get their priorities straight and helps everybody involved focus. Your father is aware of this and knows that they will return in a few days and he doesn't have to fear them taking off or even getting involved with some other man considering the bond."

"I never thought of it like that," Harper said thoughtfully.

"You're still young, even if you're considered fully mature by Immortals now," Aaron said. "It's stuff that you need to learn by actually experiencing it. I'm sure you'll see for yourself once we've been together a hundred years. You'll want to get away for a few hours at least sometimes and this is perfectly natural, which is why I said I wouldn't object if you and your sister wanted to take off for a week or so or even just for a few hours to go to a vid or to have your nails and hair done."

"Well, Brooke and I do like to get our nail and hair done at least once a month or so," Harper said. "We're often joined by mom and aunts JJ and Emily. We often go to lunch afterwards."

"See that's exactly what I mean," Aaron said. "Sure, it's just for a few hours in that case, but I won't mind if you're gone for a week so long as I know where you are and that you're safe. We're not attached at the hip, even if we'll probably spend at least double the amount of time together then most couples do, a lot of it in bed. Once you get back you can expect a be kept in bed for at least a few days."

Harper blushed a little at the image that popped into her head at that statement.

Aaron noticed the blush, but said nothing knowing very well what his mate was thinking as it was pretty obvious.

The two of them finished getting dressed and Aaron escorted his mate to his car.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"You know, we need to go pack up the rest of your things and get your car if you have one. If you don't I'll be glad to buy one," Aaron offered.

"I do have a car. Dad bought both Brooke and me one a couple of years ago," Harper said. "I can afford a new car myself through, as I have a bank account of my own. My family made sure that Brooke and I knew how to invest to."

"Still, as your mate it will be my pleasure," Aaron said, "once you need a new one."

Harper said nothing, mostly because she knew Aaron was right. She would do things for her mate as well, as it wasn't a one-way street. Her mother and aunts certainly did things for her father all the time to let him know that he was appreciated and that was something she intended to adopt now that she had a mate of her own.

"Maybe in a couple years," Harper said finally. "It's still relatively new really."

"So what kind of car is it?" Aaron asked once the two of them had been seated at a table at a little café.

"An air car," Harper said and went onto describe it.

"Well, your father went all out," Aaron smiled.

"It was his way of rewarding Brooke and I for getting one of our degrees," Harper said. "He was very proud of us. We have four each."

"As he should be," Aaron said. "Most people only get one degree or perhaps, two if they want their masters, but not four, so I'm not surprised that your entire family was proud of you. Not all Immortals go to college you know, though most do nowadays."

"I know," Harper agreed smiling.

The two of them placed their orders and continued to talk quietly, learning more about each other and as they did so they fell, even more in love than they already were.

Finally their meals arrived and they concentrated on eating for a few minutes.

"Well, I must've really been hungry," Harper said, as she cleaned her plate.

"I'm not surprised considering what we've been doing," Aaron said quietly with a smile.

"Well, now, that we've been fed and watered why don't we get back to that," Harper suggested fluttering her eyelashes coquettishly at her mate.

"Don't think I don't recognize what you're doing," Aaron said with laughter in his voice. "Still, go right ahead, as you know I'll respond eagerly. Our bond is still new after all and will be for quite sometime."

"I'm aware," Harper said, just as quietly as Aaron had been talking so that nobody could possibly overhear them, even in the very noisy café, as it was a popular place. Their conversation would seem odd at best and suspicious at worst, so there was no point in taking chances.

Aaron paid the check quickly, which had been left on their table and he and Harper headed back to his place, before they tore each other's clothes off in public. They both knew that the bond was going to be very intense for awhile.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"How do you feel about BDSM?" Aaron asked his mate several days later.

"I admit I've never tried it," Harper said. "I've never trusted anyone enough to really do anything in that area."

"Yes, it does require absolute trust between partners, especially some of the more serious techniques," Aaron agreed. "I was just thinking that we could give some of the techniques a try and anything that you don't like then we'll never do again."

"What were you thinking about specifically?" Harper asked.

"Well, I thought we'd start with spanking, which is considered light play, then we can move on to other things like butt plugs and chastity belts, perhaps even whipping."

"Yeah, I've heard about some people leaving butt plugs in all day that keeps them in a state of low-grade arousal, so by the time they actually climax it's much more powerful," Harper said.

"I see you've at least considered the idea," Aaron said pleased.

"Some of it sounds really exciting," Harper admitted. "I'm willing to try anything once, but anything that neither one of us likes we never try again."

"I would never do anything that you objected to, as that would severely bend the trust between us, something I will never do," Aaron promised.

"I trust you," Harper said. "I know very well you are the one person I can trust absolutely, besides my own family of course, but I'm definitely not going to be trying these kind of things with my parents or my aunts or my sister for that matter."

"Definitely not," Aaron said chuckling at the thought.

"I won't ask you to write up a contract between us that states what is acceptable and what is not like so many in the BDSM community do," Harper said. "All I ask is that we discuss anything you want to try and I'll do the same. I've heard that a little pain can make the sexual experience even better and the two of us can't exactly remain vanilla I believe the term is for just normal sex, considering we live basically forever barring a life changing accident or deliberate murder."

"No, we need to keep our relationship fresh and that includes some BDSM along with us going out on dates and buying each other gifts occasionally, all these things are part of any relationship and a lot of people forget that," Aaron said.

"Or just don't care," Harper agreed. "Let's start out slowly, as you suggested spanking sounds okay done with the palm of your hand. After that, you can perhaps try something like a paddle, even a cane. If we find out we like that kind of thing you can graduate too a whip, the kind that isn't going to cause any permanent damage to the skin, except the throbbing of the pain, which considering we're Immortal will fade quickly."

"Which is good, because I wouldn't suggest some of these techniques if it didn't fade within a few minutes," Aaron said. "Some people might be into sadism, but I'm not and there're some thing's involved in BDSM that I will never do."

"I suspect I will enjoy some of the techniques, especially if they enhance sexual pleasure," said Harper. "I can't help wondering if my parents have ever tried anything like this as I know BDSM has been around for very long time, at least since the early 20th Century."

"I would be surprised if they hadn't," Aaron said, "but if they have they're never going to mention it around their children."

"I wouldn't want to know," Harper said shuddering slightly. "They are my parental figures after all and while I love them I don't need to know what kind of sex they indulge in. Of course, the opposite is also true and they don't need to know what we do in the privacy of our home."

"That I completely agree with," Aaron said. "Our lives are our own and mates are not going to abuse each other so none of your parents need to worry on that score. If you tell me to stop doing something I will, especially when it comes to our sex life. I'm not going to damage the bond between us by creating mistrust, as that would be stupid. You are now the center of my happiness."

"So when can we start trying in some of those techniques you mentioned?" Harper asked eagerly. "I'm always up for a little adventure, especially since I trust you completely."

"Yeah, this BDSM stuff, well, most of it, you don't need to do unless you trust your partner a hundred percent," Aaron agreed. "You need to be absolutely sure that they have your best interest in mind and will stop when asked to do so."

"Well, we can try spanking at least as that doesn't require any extra equipment," Harper said

"I have some of the equipment here in a special drawer. Nothing too unusual, but I've had sexual partners in the past that enjoy a little pain, as it made their pleasure even better once they finally climaxed. Some things though we're going to have to buy when we're ready for them, but that's doable."

"So what kind of things do you have?" Harper asked sounding very excited and in truth she was. It wasn't so much that she was afraid to try these techniques, just that she had never trusted anyone enough to do so. Spanking was one thing but using a riding crap or a cane was something else altogether. Also bondage wasn't something to try without absolute trust in your partner, as they could to go to far and do you a lot of damage, possibly even put you in the hospital.

"Just the usual things butt plugs brand-new pack, so they've never been used, dildos, vibrator, cock rings," Aaron said naming off several more items.

"That will be fine to start with as I doubt we'll graduate to other techniques until later, perhaps in a couple years," Harper said. "We've only been together for about five days after all."

"Yeah, we're still learning about each other," Aaron agreed. "That you agreed so easily to at least give some BDSM techniques a try makes me very happy as I was afraid you would say no."

"I've always been adventurous and in that way I'm like my mother who is the same. I'll have to tell you the story sometime of how mom actually walked into a restaurant and told the maître d' she was expected. She was actually, but my dad or my aunts really didn't expect her to show up so soon after they had just moved to New York."

"I'd be interested in hearing it," Aaron said, "but later."

"Later's just fine, because we only have another couple of days before you have to go back to work," Harper said.

"So we might as well make the most of it," Aaron agreed smiling. "Want to try spanking now?"

"Sure," Harper agreed looking excited.

"This is a two-way street though, so you can spank me sometimes as well," Aaron added and Harper looked even more excited at that announcement. "It's only fair."

"Let's get started," Harper said eagerly.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Aaron's hand slapped down on Harper's bare butt hard enough to cause it to sting for a second before the pain disappeared.

"I want you to tell me, if you don't like something," Aaron ordered his voice a possessive growl. "That's an order."

"Yes, sir," Harper said pretending to be afraid, even though inwardly she was very excited. She had absolute faith that Aaron would immediately stop if she asked him to, but a few slaps on her bare butt wasn't going to do her any permanent damage and she admitted silently she was already starting to get aroused.

"What's the safe word?" Was Aaron's next question his hand posed over her butt.

"Purple," Harper answered immediately. The word had been chosen because it was her favorite color, so it was easy to remember.

"You will immediately say that word and slap the headboard if you want me to stop," Aaron ordered. "I want you to answer me. You will not be punished for doing so."

The two of them so far were enjoying playing the dominate and the submissive and they were excited to see where it went.

"I will," Harper answered and Aaron nodded to himself.

"We shouldn't need a safe word for tonight as we're not going to do anything too adventurous. You really need to work up to serious BDSM, such as bondage or using something like a riding crop," Aaron said.

"I'll be happy to try all those things once," Harper promised, "as I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to like."

"Well, you're still young, especially by Immortal standards, so it's not surprising you haven't ventured into the BDSM community yet. Me though, I've had centuries to experiment. Still, I've never tried a lot of the BDSM practices, because I didn't have a partner I trusted absolutely. Now, I do, and I'm sure we'll be trying different techniques for a long time. Tonight we're not going to do too much, just some light spanking. If you like it we'll try heavier spanking. After that, if you still like it perhaps, we'll try a paddle, as I can spank you harder with something like that then with my bare hand," Aaron explained.

"And after that?" Harper asked still laying on her stomach.

"Well, after that we can try a flogger, as they create stronger sensations and are relatively safe to use. Good for beginners. Canes are very, very serious and I doubt we'll ever use one as they take a lot of training to use properly. Canes are often made of bamboo and they split easily and if they do so can often injure the person they're being used on. If we do try it we'll stick to the butt as there is not as many nerves like there are in the back. I don't think we'll be trying something like that for many, many decades, if ever. A little pain that fades quickly, and when it's done to enhance one of our pleasures is one thing, but I will never seriously injure you, even if we heal quickly. Also at the moment we don't know what your pain threshold is. I want you to enjoy the experience just as much as I'm going to and if you're in to much pain that will block out any pleasure you might feel," Aaron explained.

"What about butt plugs? I've always wanted to try one of those," Harper asked.

"Those are relatively safe too, so long as you have one that fits you, to tight and its uncomfortable, to loose and it doesn't do it's job of stimulating your G-spot or in males case the prostrate," Aaron said. "I've used them in the past. It keeps you in a state of low-grade arousal if you leave it in all day. They also give you a feeling of fullness just as if you had a man's penis inside you. They can definitely be used to enhance our play at a later date."

Harper was excited at the very thought, but remained silent as she knew that she was a submissive in this case and she was not to talk without her dominate's permission.

Aaron's hand hit her butt, and it stung like the dickens for a few seconds, but faded quickly. Aaron's hand suddenly spanked her again and this time he did so her five times in quick succession so that the pain wouldn't fade so quickly.

Harper whimpered, but said nothing as the pain was actually shooting very pleasurable sensations through her entire body and she was becoming even more aroused then what she had been previously.

"Are you okay?" Aaron asked and Harper nodded. "Answer me verbally. You will not be punished for doing so."

"I'm fine and in fact the little pain there is fades nearly immediately and is making me very aroused. I'm so wet down in my channel and I'm surprised it's not leaking out onto the bed," Harper answered honestly.

"Good, then this is something we can do regularly. I'm so glad you enjoyed it," Aaron said pleased. "I want you to turn over now as I am going to enter your passage, as I think we've had enough spanking for right now. Of course, I didn't spank you very hard, as I just gave you light little slaps, but I'm glad to know that they worked like I hoped. We'll get into the heavier stuff at a later date."

Harper obeyed Aaron's command immediately and turned onto her back spreading her legs wide.

Aaron observed this with a pleased little smile and slowly stalked towards the bed. It was only a few seconds, but to Harper it seemed to take forever for Aaron to actually reach the bed. Harper was very well aware that this was because of her anticipation. She'd had no idea that light spanking could get her so aroused, but now that she knew she hoped Aaron did it often. He had already promised to do so and she could hardly wait for the next session. If there was one great thing about being Immortal was that any kind of pain soreness or whatever it was faded quickly.

Finally Aaron stood at the end of the bed for a few seconds watching his mate with a nearly predatory expression.

Harper simply looked at him saying nothing but her expression was pleading and Aaron caved nearly immediately, as he would do almost anything for the woman he was coming to love more every day.

It was only seconds later that he rammed his cock into what he now considered his home, before withdrawing it partway and slamming in again. It didn't take long at all before he came in her body, since the spanking had been their form of foreplay, getting both of them strongly aroused

By the time they were done they were both panting lightly and knew it was something they would be trying again since both of them have enjoyed it.

"Well, I'm glad our first foray into BDSM worked out so well," Aaron said finally.

"Yeah, who knew I would enjoy being spanked so much, even if it was only lightly," Harper said.

"I doubt very much you would have enjoyed it if you knew you actually being punished for something," Aaron suggested. "Your mind knew that in this case it was just foreplay before we got to the actual penetration, which makes a big difference, as our feelings have a lot to do with how much we enjoy something."

"It does make sense, although Brooke and I were never spanked as children. I won't say we weren't ever punished, but our parents and aunts don't believe in spanking a child. No, good physical labor seems to be what they believed would teach us a lesson, something of course, that we wouldn't enjoy doing or it wouldn't be punishment at all. Sometimes we would be given lines but when that didn't have any effect on the trouble we got into they had to come up with something else."

"Well, you at least turned out alright," Aaron said smiling, "though a little physical pain is a sharp reminder to behave."

"Oh, we learned our lessons," Harper admitted smiling. "We were mostly well behaved kids so they didn't need to punish us very often, but still I'm sure they could tell you stories that would likely turn your hair white if that was possible. They tried their best not to spoil us too much, as they had seen the results of that in other children who grew up wealthy but also spoiled rotten. Ones that acted all condensing to whoever they talked to if they were outside their social circle."

"Yeah, I've come across people like that before, mostly mortals," Aaron said. "Just because you have money is no reason to treat everyone as if they're beneath you, as that's a good way to get lifelong enemies or at least people who resent the hell out of you for your attitude. I've always felt that it's better to make friends then enemies. The parents of a lot of rich families don't discipline their children like they should, so it's no wonder they grow up thinking that they can treat others like dirt beneath their heel."

"We certainly had some of the finer things in life, but neither were we spoiled," Harper said. "I think the main reason we mostly behaved was we never wanted to see that disappointment in our father's eyes. Brooke and I always knew that he would love us no matter what, but we hated to disappoint the man we adored. We love our mother to, but it was always the possibility of our father's disappointment that made us toe the line."

"That's only natural because it's clear to me that you think he walks on water," Aaron said smiling. "It usually works out that way you know where one parent is just a bit closer to at least one of their children."

"Yeah, we are closer to our father, even though we adore mother and our aunts to," Harper admitted.

"Some parents just have a way with kids in general, which includes their own," Aaron said. "There's just something about human nature a lot of times to where a person is closer to someone in their families more than any of the others, not necessarily a parent. Most times it has to do with the fact that they're similar in many ways. How's your butt feeling?"

"Its just fine," Harper promised. "It doesn't even feel tender anymore, though I'm certainly really beginning to appreciate our healing ability."

"Yeah, I've had that thought more than once over the centuries," Aaron admitted, as he and Harper snuggled together. "I've been grateful more than once that we heal so fast depending on what kind of wound it is. That's probably why you and your sister were never spanked as children you know or at least one of the reasons."

"You think we were never spanked, because they knew that the pain would fade too quickly instead of lasting for a few days or at least until morning," Harper said, immediately catching on to what her mate was implying.

"I will bet that's at least one reason," Aaron said. "The pain wouldn't have lasted any time to remind you to behave and would have been gone within an hour or so at the most, so wouldn't have taught you anything."

"You know that's probably the reason why our father at least never spanked us," Harper said in sudden realization. "He tended to be a lot tougher on us then my aunts, except perhaps Emily."

"Most Immortals don't spank their kids and not because they don't believe in discipline, but because the pain doesn't last long enough to do any good, especially if a child is being extremely stubborn."

"Yeah, Brooke and I had our moments," Harper admitted smiling.

"You were children, so of course, you did," Aaron said smiling, as he imagined his mate as a little girl. "My parents certainly had a way of disciplining me when necessary and I'm sure that I was far worse then you were when it came to getting into mischief."

"So did you grow up alone or with a sibling?" Harper asked.

"By myself I'm afraid," Aaron said looking rather melancholy. "My parents aren't like yours where either of them has more than one mate."

"I was always very lucky," Harper said. "I always had Brooke."

"You never did tell me how your parents managed to have twins. I know very well that you have to be blessed by Ilithyia in order for that to occur," Aaron said.

"Well, we haven't had really much time, since we've been having a lot of sex lately," Harper said blushing a little. She might have had a little sexual experience before she met Aaron, but she hadn't had a lot of it, as she'd been to concentrated on her studies. She had wanted to please her father most of all by being at the top of her class and she had succeeded in that with Brooke being right behind her.

Aaron saw the blush and thought it was adorable. It showed that while his mate had had some sexual experience she wasn't so experienced that she had stopped blushing when certain subjects were brought up. That would change with time and experience Aaron knew and he also knew that he was going to miss that aspect of his mate's personality when it happened.

He said nothing however, not wanting to embarrass Harper any farther.

"Why don't you tell me the story while we have a few minutes," Aaron suggested.

"Well, according to my parents it goes like this," Harper began and then went on and retold what she had been told as a child.

"So you're saying that your parents were having children every five years unless they did something to prevent it and that your mother had twins every single time. This only started though, once your father and Emily had tracked down your Aunt Jennifer and the only reason they believe that they started having children so close together is because you're aunt wasn't sure if she could have any due to being attacked and put in the hospital before she met them."

"Aunt JJ is one of the kindest, sweetest people you'll ever meet. She was really unsure she'd ever be able to have a child by dad, which as you can imagine they both really wanted. It was causing her a lot of emotional pain as I'm sure you realize," Harper added and Aaron nodded being able to imagine that very well.

"And Ilithyia is not one to leave someone like JJ in such pain," Aaron realized. "Not when it's in no way her fault that she believed she might not be able to have children due to a vicious attack by her former boyfriend."

"Dad did tell her that the damage would probably be repaired by the time she was Immortal, but Aunt JJ was still in a lot of emotional pain, because neither were sure, you see," Harper and Aaron nodded at that. "As you can imagine they were totally ecstatic when they discovered that she was pregnant that first time because they definitely hadn't been expecting it for another 65 years or so."

"I would imagine they were surprised when one of them got pregnant again after another five years," Aaron said being able to imagine that scene very easily.

"Yeah, they were because dad had figured that it would never happen again, that when it did happen that first time that it was just the show Aunt JJ that she was indeed able to have children," Harper agreed. "In any case, mom didn't join them for decades after that and while everyone was expecting her to get pregnant after five years, as soon as she was fully Immortal, they certainly didn't expect her to have twins that first time. Yes, twins ran in mom's family, but that wouldn't have mattered if Ilithyia hadn't taken a special interest in us."

"I see," Aaron said trying to work out what Harper had told him in his head. "Did any of your family ever work out exactly what they had done to get Ilithyia's interest."

"Well, all they could figure was it was because dad's kind of the white knight type, you know the type I mean. One who helps people who need a hand up, gives to charity that type of thing, without expecting anything in return," Harper said.

"I think I understand," Aaron said finally. "A lot of the Immortals are just like those that are mortal and can be abusive or at least abrasive. Not too their mates of course, but towards others, like their girlfriends or boyfriends or other people. Either that or they are not ones to go quietly about their business like it appears your father is. From what I know of your father he's honest, has integrity and will never take advantage of someone and you can't say that about some Immortals. If what I'm thinking is correct, Ilithyia would definitely be interested in someone like him, someone who conducts himself in such a way and I can see her quietly rewarding someone like that. It might also be worth mentioning that that might be the reason that your father also has more then one mate unlike most Immortals. It is said that the gods can see into the future, so it's possible that Ilithyia or one of the others knew how your father would turn out. Someone that wouldn't let the hardships he endured turn him into someone impossibly hard and bitter or who took advantage of others or at the very least didn't care about anyone, but himself and his mates."

"Maybe, but I suppose we'll never really know for sure. Of course, he also had Aunt Emily to keep him straight, as she's one tough lady and would have definitely put dad in his place if necessary," Harper mused, Aaron chuckling quietly in amusement at his mate's words. "Just so you know my family will be having no more children."

"None?" Aaron asked shocked coming out of his amusement so fast he nearly got whiplash or at least it seemed that way.

"No, Brooke I just learned this right before I met you, that my father had himself fixed about a decade ago with my mother and aunts agreements of course. Thanks to their ability to have children every five years or so they had well over 200 including my sister and myself, so they just decided that it was time," Harper explained.

"Well, I'm really shocked, but I can definitely understand considering what I now know," Aaron said. "It's definitely a life altering decision when an Immortal decides to go ahead and have themselves fixed, though of course, it happens."

"Yeah, Brooke and I were pretty shocked too," Harper admitted. "Neither one of us had any ideas that it had even been discussed, as we were away at college for a great portion of the last dozen years. Sure, we went to college right here in New Orleans, so we visited fairly often, but still, they never mentioned it when we did. Mom said it was a decision that had been brewing for at least a decade and that my sister and I were sort of an accident, because she had forgotten to get her IUD replaced. You know that no immortal is going to get rid of the fetus once they're pregnant whether it was an accident or not."

"Very true, as it would be a offense to Ilithyia if they had done so. It's possible that they had been discussing the idea for even longer then they told you, but didn't all agree until about a decade ago," Aaron suggested shuddering inwardly at the thought of his mate never being born.

"That's certainly possible," Harper considered seriously.

"It doesn't really matter, I'm just glad that you and your sister were born," Aaron said.

"I just bet you are," Harper laughed, even as she and Aaron kissed tenderly. "Once mom was pregnant, there was no way that any of my family would have agreed to get rid of the babies she was carrying. Too them life is a sacred gift from the gods," Harper said and again Aaron nodded for he shared much the same opinion, even if he never had any children, yet anyway. Children would come he knew, in a few decades of course.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

"We need to get ready," Aaron reminded Harper the very next day, around 4:30. "We have dinner with your parents in about an hour."

"Yeah, you're right," Harper agreed. "And tomorrow you have to go back to work."

"Yeah, I know," Aaron sighed. "I don't necessarily have to work as I'm sure you guessed, but it was a way to keep me occupied until I met you."

"Believe me, I understand," Harper said calmly. "My father often has business meetings and I'm sure he's investing in different companies once he meets the people involved. Dad can usually tell when someone's honest after just a meeting or two, but then I know most Immortals are incredibly perceptive as it comes from experience."

"That's true, but it also helps to be a little suspicious and realize that not every mortal or Immortal for that matter is honest or has anyone's best interest in mind, except their own," Aaron said.

"I'm not so naive I don't know that," Harper said. "I am thirty after all and Brooke and I weren't as sheltered as a lot of children are. Dad in particular made sure that we were well aware about how we could be taken advantage of, but mom and aunts Emily and JJ also helped him. JJ at least has real experience with being taken advantage of by a man, but since Emily and Dave have been together since they were children it's never really happened to her. She's seen it happen multiple times to others though. Dad or any of them really are not ones to believe that something bad can't happen to you just because you're unaware of how people can be."

"That's something I definitely approve of and any children we have will be raised the same," said Aaron. "Those that are raised in a sheltered environment are often the ones that are taken advantage of due mostly to their naïveté. I know that parents want to believe that nothing bad can happen to their children, but they're just being naïve. If children were raised to be aware of the dangers in the world there would be far fewer victims of certain types of crime."

"Well, we can't control anybody else's actions, so all we can really do is raise our children to not be easily taken advantage of," Harper said.

Aaron was in complete agreement with that statement, although he said nothing.

Finally the two were ready to go to have dinner with Harper's family.

"We have just enough time to get there," Harper said. "We might as well collect the rest of my things while we're there."

"That's a good idea," Aaron decided. "Or at least as many of your things that will fit in the trunk of my car. I think we can leave your car there for now at least until we've been seen in public more, mostly because I don't have a garage for you to store it in, so it should remain hidden for the time being. Once we get married in a few months, you can bring your car here."

"That's probably sensible," Harper decided. "The neighbors might know that you're in a relationship with me, but they won't know that it's going to be a permanent thing. People have live-in girlfriends or boyfriends all the time and although it might seem a little strange to people because you've always lived alone..."

"They'll probably be happy that I finally met someone," Aaron said. "Not everyone of course, because there are several single women that have been trying to get me to notice them for several years. I never pollute my own pool so to speak and I wasn't going to take the chance of them being jealous or something when I finally met you. Whenever I dated someone they never lived close to here and though they did sometimes spend the night they certainly left the next day."

"I bet you those ladies that live in the neighborhood weren't happy with you," Harper said dryly.

"That's their problem," Aaron shrugged. "I might not have been as sexually active, as some men, but I wasn't a hermit. Now that I have you though, well, there will never be any other women."

"I know that," Harper answered calmly, even as the two of them walked towards the front door. "I'm not jealous, because those relationships were before we had even met and it would be kind of silly of me to be jealous of women that are no longer part of your life."

"No, I haven't dated in over a year, because I knew the time was approaching for us to meet," Aaron admitted candidly. "I didn't want the complication of a possible romantic entanglement, as some women don't know when to take it's over seriously. I've had problems in the past getting rid of a woman that I had lost interest in, as they wanted to make our relationship to be longer-lasting, if not permanent."

"Like that was going to happen when you knew that you had a mate out there waiting for you," Harper snorted.

"And also there're some things you can't hide forever, if you have someone living with you and considering the fact that I'm Immortal my secret would've been revealed sooner or later, because none of the woman I dated were airheads I believe the term is."

"Which is why you never let any woman live with you until you met me," Harper said.

"Well that, and the fact that living with someone implies a permanent commitment," Aaron said. "I wasn't into making any kind of commitment to anyone, since I knew that I was waiting for you. Besides, I would've turned those women Immortal eventually if I stopped using a condom and I definitely wasn't going to do that. I've never had sex without a condom unless it was with another Immortal who was also unattached. I just wish all Immortals were as responsible."

"Yeah, dad's told me some things," Harper said in agreement. "About how Immortals can be just as irresponsible and lazy as mortals can, but since we were once mortal that does make sense."

"I've met a few of them," Aaron snorted. "I think Immortals like that should be culled for the good of our race considering we have to keep ourselves a secret. I feel that they are the ones that are going to reveal Immortals to the world."

"Hopefully not," Harper said.

The two of them dropped their conversation as Aaron pulled into the Rossi driveway.

"Well, let's go have dinner with your family. I'm looking forward to eating your dad's cooking again."

"Yeah, dad's a great cook," Harper agreed enthusiastically. "You'll also finally get to meet my sister Brooklynn, even if we always call her Brooke."

"I'm looking forward to it," Aaron said, as he opened his mates door for her.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Welcome!" Emily greeted her pseudo niece as well as her mate at the door. "Come in. Dave's cooking up a storm."

"Well, I for one am looking forward to some of dad's good homecooking," Harper said smiling.

"Come into the living room, dinner should be ready momentarily," Emily said.

"How's Brooke?" Harper asked.

"She's fine considering," Emily said. "She's missed you this last week, which is really only natural considering how close you are. She's been kind of moping around."

"That doesn't sound like Brooke," Harper said looking worried.

"She's just missing her twin," Aaron said calmly. "You've rarely been apart for more than a day or two at a time all your lives."

"Aaron's right," Emily said. "It will pass."

"I'll try to visit every few days at least from now on, which should be easier because Aaron's going back to work tomorrow," Harper said. "I'll be at loose ends while he's at work, so maybe we can do the shopping thing, spend the day at the spa."

"Sounds just fine," Aaron said smiling. "There's no need to stay cooped up at my place all day as I'm sure you'd go stir crazy in a week."

"Probably," Harper agreed, "as I'm used to getting out and doing things."

"Sis!" Came a female voice and suddenly Harper was being pounced on. "I'm so happy to see you. I've missed you."

"I'm happy to see you to Brooke," Harper laughed. "Sis, I want you to meet Aaron Hotchner."

"It's nice to meet you," Brookes said, as she solemnly shook Aaron's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you too," Aaron said returning the handshake. He unobtrusively studied Brooke and felt that she and Harper didn't look very much alike at all. They shared the same general features, same eyes, chin, mouth, nose and even their hands, but that was where the similarities ended. Harper was nearly as tall as he was, slim and attractive, while Brooke was several inches shorter then her sister and had brown hair instead of black like his own and it was also straight instead of naturally curly. Brooke had a totally different body shape to her sister and in fact, looked more like her mother in that way, which was bigger boned and heftier with a lot of feminine curves in all the right places, but with broader shoulders then most females possessed.

Really both sisters were very beautiful women and Aaron was sure that Brooke would have several boyfriends at least before she met her mate in a few decades.

"I'm very glad to see my sister so happy," Brooke added.

"You can tell," Harper teased her twin.

"Of course, I can sis," Brooke said. "I sure am going to miss you though."

"There's no need to, as we can still do the shopping thing or go to a vid, just like we used to when we were growing up," Harper said. "Being mated does not preclude doing other things and Aaron's got to go back to work as of tomorrow. We can plan a shopping day or something else while Aaron's working."

Brooke immediately cheered up at that Aaron noticed and he knew he had made the right decision, not that it was really his decision in the first place. Harper should have the freedom to do things while he was working as no Immortal subjugated their mate unless they wanted their relationship to be on the rocks. No, most Immortals at least believed in equality and it wasn't like he feared Harper was going to cheat on him as that wasn't possible and he knew it. Besides, this was the 30th century and women could do anything they desired with their lives. Some men still tried to subjugate their wives or girlfriends, but Aaron knew that some of that would always go on no matter what century they lived as humans or Immortals for that matter just weren't wired for perfect utopia, where everyone behaved.

It was clear that Brooke had been missing her sister a great deal over the last few days and so long as both of them were living in the area there was no reason that they couldn't spend time together.

"We'll plan a day sometime soon," Harper promised. "Anytime, except the weekends, because Aaron doesn't have to work and I'm going to spend every second I can with him."

"Still, that sounds just fine," Brooke said smiling.

"You don't abandon your family, just because you get married," JJ said coming out of the kitchen. "All of us remained in contact with Penny's family for many years as Dave told you earlier. We might not have seen them more than a few times a year, but we were still pretty close to them regardless."

"I didn't know that," Brooke said looking at her aunt.

"Well, if you had drug yourself out of bed at the same time as the rest of us, you would have," Harper pointed out rolling her eyes at her sister. "Mom, doesn't like to talk about it, because it still makes her sad, even though she knows that they lived out their lives. Both of them lived well into their 140s before they died.

"Which was pretty old back then," Aaron added. "Nowadays, people can live to be over 250 and I doubt very much that any human will ever live longer than they do now. Really living to 250 is tremendous and shows human creativity. Many people believe that being able to live so long is just the next step in human evolution. Who knows they could be right."

"Back when Emily and I were born," Dave said coming out of the kitchen, "most mortals didn't live past 50 at the latest and many of them died much younger. There was so many diseases back then that were simply incurable at the time. Part of the reason now that humans are living so long is because technology has progressed to the point that they have artificial organs for just about anything. Artificial kidneys, artificial hearts, artificial bladders, even artificial lungs. Also many diseases that were incurable back when Emily and I were born now no longer kill off humans by the hundreds, except in some third world countries where medical care isn't even half as good or even half as important as it is here in the States. Humans have done a lot for themselves in the last thousand years, so that they're living longer than seems humanly possible."

"But now that humans have knocked out most of the most dangerous diseases that killed them by the thousands..." Aaron said.

"Oh, they'll always be diseases that will at some point kill off thousands of people and some of those might even be manmade, but humans aren't going to die out anytime soon, considering how many billions there are," Dave said

"Not to mention the colonies on the moon and Mars and also Alpha Centauri," Harper suggested.

"True, but every once in awhile genetics throws up something that'll knock off hundreds of them at the very least sometimes millions of them, but ever since they figured out that sanitation matters a lot of things were knocked out completely."

"They've even figured out how to cure some forms of cancer," JJ said. "Something I wish they had discovered hundreds of years ago."

Dave immediately put his arm around JJ at that and Aaron knew that Harper's aunt had lost someone to cancer.

"My aunt. My parents were killed I was sent to live with my mother's sister in Texas. I had no idea that she had lung cancer, but then I should have realized that it was possible, because she liked to smoke the real cigarettes, not the herbals. I had no idea she was even sick as it was after I was already out on my own and as far as I know she had told no one. She left me everything, as I was the only living relative, but I'd much rather would've had her back again," JJ explained at Aaron's obvious curiosity.

"Unfortunately, we never got to meet JJ's aunt as we didn't meet her until after that," Dave said. "We can continue this conversation over dinner now as it should be about ready. I left Penny watching it."

"Well, mom's a pretty decent cook, though nowhere in dad's league course," Brooke who had been mostly silent after her initial greeting of her sister said.

"Yes, she is," Dave agreed. "I taught her everything I know, as she didn't cook much before we met. She was just a very basics cook. She was determined to learn though, so JJ or I didn't have to do all the cooking. It's not like either JJ or I mind cooking for the family, but it gave us something to do when we weren't busy doing anything else."

"I never knew that," Harper commented.

"Well, it wasn't recent that I taught her how to cook, sweetie. You weren't even a twinkle in our eyes when I taught her how to cook more than the bare basics. It was only a few decades after we met and it's not like the cooking lessons were every week or something, just between other activities."

"It must come in useful occasionally anyway," Aaron suggested.

"Occasionally," Dave agreed. "Mostly the ladies take turns helping me prepare a meal, either breakfast or dinner, because lunch is usually something simple that doesn't require much preparation."

"All except for Aunt Emily," Brooke suggested snickering.

"Well, she could improve her skills if she wanted to, she's just never had the desire," Dave shrugged. "I know her mother tried her best to teach her how to cook, but she was always interested in doing other things. If she had been born mortal, well, she would have been considered unwomanly at the very least.

"Only if she had been born into a poor or middle-class family," JJ suggested, as she came out of the kitchen.

"Yes, that's true as the wealthy folks had servants, so the daughters of those families didn't really need to know how to cook and it would've been considered strange at least if they did know how," Dave said.

"Did I hear my name being taken in vain?" Emily asked, as she came out of the kitchen where she had been talking to Penny.

"We were just talking about your lack of cooking skills," JJ teased Emily.

"I don't see why I should cook any better than I do considering that the rest of you cook just fine and there's always take out," Emily said shrugging.

"But take out wasn't available, back when you were born, was it?" Harper asked her aunt.

"Well, no, but Dave learned how to cook so well from his own mother that I didn't see the point."

"I can cook a little, and it's certainly edible, but since I was born after restaurants were common I just never bothered," Aaron said.

"Well, you won't have to eat out as often thanks to Harper," Penelope complimented her daughter. "She's an excellent chef and I'm sure she won't mind cooking for the two of you."

"You know I won't," Harper said. "I haven't been able to yet, because Aaron and wanted us to be seen together, just to keep up appearances. I can't just come out of nowhere and suddenly start living with him. That might've worked centuries ago, but not now."

"If it wasn't for my position at the bank I wouldn't care, but appearances are important," Aaron said and everybody nodded. "It's just better to be seen in public for the next few months, then of course, I'll propose and we'll be married."

"That's wise, you don't want anybody to be suspicious, because even if they can't do anything, you don't want anybody to think Harper's after your money or something," Dave said, as he helped serve the food. "To some people it wouldn't matter that it was none of their business, as people can be nosy and you're a prominent banker."

"I have money of my own and I don't need Aaron's," Harper snorted a derision at that idea.

"Yes, you do, but people won't know that, not unless they do a background check. If Aaron wasn't such a prominent member of Foster's bank it wouldn't matter so much. Most people probably won't care one way or the other, but still, I agree with Dave that it's wise to keep up appearances for his work colleagues if nothing else. It would just be better if you don't appear out of nowhere, because we don't want anybody to think that you're some kind of gold digger," Penelope said. "People can be incredibly nosy and often don't know how to stay out of other peoples business."

"It doesn't help that I'm due to make bank manager sometime in the next five years, as my boss Lester Pruden is due to retire," Aaron said. "Most people probably won't care who I've been dating or if I've actually been seen in public with her, but since people are curious by nature it's just safer. If we're seen in public a lot over the next few weeks there won't be any chance for rumors to start, rumors about how you're a gold digger that just appeared out of nowhere. It doesn't help I'm afraid that I haven't dated much in the last ten years, mostly because I knew that my mate was just around the corner. I've dated some, I won't deny it, as I wanted to keep up appearances, but none of those relationships lasted very long."

"Even if you know you're mate's going to appear some time in a few years you can't go totally without sex either," Dave suggested. "After all, us Immortals stop aging at 30 and a man's libido often doesn't die down when they reach that age, though that's not true for all men I know. Still, my libido was just as active at 30 as it was when I was 16 or 17, though I also had Emily so maybe that had something to do with it is well."

"No, I think you still would've been like that, even if you hadn't met your first mate long before you stopped aging," Emily told Dave.

"Maybe," Dave shrugged noncommittally.

"It won't matter what the truth is," Emily told Harper returning to the original subject. "People just love a good scandal and some of them don't care if they create one, even if it's a falsehood. More than one person's reputation and very life has been ruined due to someone spreading untrue rumors about them."

"So we'll do it Aaron's way then if he thinks that's best," Harper said. "It's not like I mind being taken out to nice restaurants or to other places."

"And there won't be any children to worry about for a few decades anyway," Aaron said.

"Which isn't unusual unfortunately, as a lot of women tend to be infertile," JJ said. "I doubt anyone will comment if the two of you don't happen to have a child."

"Maybe we can adopt or something," Harper suggested.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Aaron said doubtfully. "I mean, even if they didn't figure out we weren't exactly normal, they would grow up and eventually die."

"Still, you might want to consider it," Dave suggested. "I don't think it's that bad an idea and it's certainly not against any of the rules we have to follow in order not to lose our Immortality. Besides, you can convert them to Immortality by having them drink your blood."

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Aaron said thoughtfully. "Of course, they would have to agree to it, but it is certainly doable."

"Just think about it, if you were a normal human couple that wanted to adopt..." Penelope suggested.

"Yes, I see your point," Aaron said thoughtfully. "The only problem I have with it really is the fact that we would have to lose contact with their descendants, because humans don't live forever and if the children we adopt didn't want to be converted to Immortality then we would have to at some point."

"At least there's a way too disguise your real age today," Penelope said. "There are numerous ways now to make yourself look older or even a few years younger. Of course, mostly it's younger people that want to make themselves look a few years older, so they can buy alcohol, but there are other uses for making yourself look years older than you actually are."

"There is that," Aaron agreed.

"I think we should consider it to, although not for at least a decade," Harper said. "I want plenty of time alone with you before we even consider adopting."

"Like I'm going to complain about having a decade alone with just you and me," Aaron grinned.

"I certainly wouldn't," Dave snorted in amusement. "I'm not insane after all. Having a decade alone with a beautiful woman is hardly a hardship."

"You did have a decade alone with a beautiful woman," Emily pointed out smiling. "You had 600 years alone with one."

"Why do you think I said that?" Dave grinned kissing Emily's cheek.

Aaron watched this smiling envying Dave and Emily their closeness, but then he knew Harper and him would achieve that once they had been together for a decade or two. Right now, they were still getting to know each other and would be for at least the next several years. Harper and him would be that close one day as well and Aaron couldn't wait.

"Not all Immortals are so lucky to meet one of their mates as children," Penelope pointed out smiling.

"Yeah, I know," Dave said. "Believe me, I'm aware of how lucky I was that I had Emily from the time we were small children. I also know that most Immortals like Aaron aren't so lucky."

"It doesn't matter, I have Harper now and it doesn't matter how long it took us to find each other, just that we did," Aaron said smiling.

"Now there is a good attitude to have," JJ said approvingly. "It doesn't matter how long it took you to find each other, just so long as you met."

"Precisely," Aaron said smiling, as he kissed Harper's cheek.

"We have another mate, that we need to find," Harper told her family after she had cleaned her plate of the beef stroganoff that her father had fixed. Beef stroganoff, with green beans, garlic bread and salad was one of her favorites and her father was well aware of it

"Do you?" Emily asked with a surprised expression.

"We do," Aaron confirmed. "Both of us still feel that swirling blankness."

"Well, I never expected anyone else in our family to have more then one mate," Dave said in surprise.

"It's not something you can really predict," Aaron suggested.

"That's true," Penelope said. "It's something that only happens every few centuries, when Ilithyia or one or the other gods considers somebody worthy of having more than one mate. At least that's what Dave and Emily have taught me and JJ over the years."

"And they're absolutely correct, as my own family taught me the same thing," Aaron told Penelope who nodded.

"I suppose we have to consider the fact that the four of us have had far more children then most Immortals," Dave said.

"And also that you've raised them to obey the laws of society, to just go about their business quietly without causing a scene, to help those in need and Ilithyia really likes people that help others without expecting anything in return, not even appreciation. A lot of Immortals expect a reward for helping someone or to be praised and while someone might be better off after they're helped those Immortals don't do it for the right reasons."

"You do have a point," Dave considered. "I've never cared about being rewarded or about appreciation and sometimes a person just needs a hand up, because they've gotten into a bad situation."

"That's exactly what I mean," Aaron said. "You don't care about rewards or being thanked for helping someone. You do it, because it's the right thing to do and from what I know about Harper so far she seems very similar to you in many ways."

"She is," Penelope said. "She and Brooke both adored Dave growing up, so they turned out very similar to him in personality. Children learn by imitating the adults around them, but there are also some things that are genetic."

"We adore him now," Brooke spoke up. She had been mostly silent, which was rather unusual, but she was also good at observation and that was exactly what she had been doing. You learned a lot from keeping quiet and listening to others conversations, which was something that both she and Harper had picked up years ago

"That's exactly what I mean," Aaron said. "It's obvious that your daughters adore you and since children learn by imitation, they picked up a lot of your traits."

"They picked up plenty from their mother to through," Dave said changing the subject, as he got rather uncomfortable when people talked about him like that. It might be true, but still such conversation was uncomfortable for him at the very least.

"Of course, we did as we got her love for computers and we're just as good at hacking as she is."

"Mom is very good at changing our records when necessary," Brooke told Aaron.

"Which is something I can do for us when it's necessary to," Harper said. "Mom taught us everything she knew about changing our background. It makes it easier to move around in such a high tech society."

"Well, that's a skill that was certainly come in useful," Aaron smiled.

"So you never had any one to change your records before? Create a different background?"

"Sure I have, but I've always gone to those who do that kind of thing for a fee and who are not really completely honest. Creating a whole new background for someone is very lucrative as I'm sure you know."

"Believe me, we know," Penelope said smiling. "I've been doing new backgrounds for some Immortals for centuries now, but I can only do so many without it interrupting my family life, so I only take so many clients besides my own family. There is just too many Immortals for me to do everyone a new background."

"Thousands of us at the very least," Aaron agreed.

"At least 50,000 or so," Dave said. "If most Immortals didn't have such a problem having children it would be way more."

"And 50,000 isn't even 1% of the population," Emily said.

"Who knows Harper and Brooke might decide to follow in my footsteps and start doing backgrounds for some of the Immortal population. It would certainly help me out because Immortals are always requesting help in doing new backgrounds for them and I have to turn most of them away, as I just don't have time," Penelope said.

"Request is that what you call them from some Immortals that kept persisting, even when you told them you didn't have time," Dave snorted.

"Alright, there were a few who were very rude," Penelope admitted.

"That's probably the understatement of the century," Emily snorted her opinion of those Immortals clear. "If some Immortals had their way Penny would be chained to a computer changing backgrounds for everyone who paid the person holding her prisoner."

"I've met mortals and Immortals alike like that," Aaron said with a disgusted look.

"So have I and believe me, I scared the life out of them," Dave growled. "I told them I would have no trouble killing them and disposing of the bodies if they didn't back off. I said if they dared try to kidnap her the rest of us would track them down and they wouldn't be alive for long afterwards. I have a strong enough reputation in the Immortal community that they knew better then to try it. All of us might live pretty quietly, and we might not like to make waves, but that doesn't mean that all of us wouldn't have followed through with the threat and those immortals were well aware of it."

"Some of those Immortals were just impatient and rude, but didn't really mean any harm. Others were more dangerous," Emily said. "Both Dave and I had feelings that if some of those Immortals got their hands on Penny that they would force her to do backgrounds for anybody that could pay and she wouldn't have gotten a cent for all her hard work. Hell, they probably would've only fed her enough to keep her alive as that's usually how these sadistic people work."

"I've met a few Immortals like that too," Aaron admitted quietly. "Luckily, they don't pop up too often."

"Well, if it did happen Emily and I at least would've hunted them down and though Ilithyia frowns on murder, she doesn't expect us not to defend our family and the Immortals would have been well aware of this if they were taught at all properly," Dave said with a fierceness in his expression that made Aaron glad that Dave wasn't mad at him, not that he could blame the man, because if anything threatened Harper he would have a very similar reaction he knew.

"Yeah, they may get away with that kind thing with some mortal so long as they don't break Ilithyia's strictures, even if she frowns on that type of behavior," Aaron agreed quietly.

"But since the Immortals are her people, as she's the one that caused them to be what they are, it would basically, be committing suicide to do something like Dave and Emily are suggesting," JJ said.

"Yeah, it would be," Aaron agreed. "Still, we were once human and humans often believe that they can get away with a whole lot of crimes and nobody will ever catch them and oftentimes they're right, because cops are overworked and underpaid, though a lot of times the cops do catch those that believe they are untouchable."

"Yes, Immortals are the same way," JJ said.

"I can handle myself in most situations," Penelope put in. "All three of us are experts in several martial arts disciplines, but I can't handle more than 2 or 3 attackers by myself, especially if they gang up on me and know how to work together."

"They wanted to learn how to protect themselves and it's not like I could object, as there are many people that will take advantage of others if you let them," Dave said.

Aaron nodded totally agreeing with that.

"It might never happen, but you never know," JJ said. "Females tend to be particularly vulnerable to predators who want to take advantage of them. Better to have the skills to defend yourself then not."

"A lot of men, even in this century see women as helpless and sometimes the females themselves don't help that image," Penelope said.

"Yeah, that I agree with, as I've seen it for myself again and again," Brooke said.

"So have I," Harper agreed. "It's no wonder that a lot of men believe females are helpless, because they deliberately act like it. Not all of them or even most of them, but enough that the idea that women are helpless remains in a lot of men's minds. Not everybody has a good example growing up."

Everybody agreed with that.

"Thank you for dinner it was beyond delicious," Aaron told Dave who nodded in appreciation.

"You're quite welcome. It happens to be one of Harper's favorites," Dave told Aaron who made a mental note of that.

"It was as delicious as always dad, so thanks," Harper said.

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart," Dave said. "I certainly hope you and Aaron will come for lunch or dinner at least once every couple weeks. It will give us all a chance to see you more often for one thing now that you have a mate of your own."

"I think that's doable," Aaron agreed before Harper could say anything. "We might as well take advantage of the fact that we're living in the same city for the moment, which won't always be true."

"And maybe all of us can join you when we go to shopping spree or out to lunch," Brooke said.

"Well, shopping is not really my thing as you're well aware," Dave said smiling, "except when I'm shopping for gifts for my family, but I'll be happy to join you at some restaurant for lunch or dinner."

"You shop for a lot of your own clothes," Penelope pointed out.

"Well, yes, but that only takes a couple of hours and I don't have to do it it often, because you're always buying my clothes for me, so really I don't shop very often," Dave said.

"Except electronics, we can't keep him out of a electronics store," JJ teased him.

"He always has to go see the newest gadgets," Emily added smiling, as she joined in on the teasing.

"There's nothing wrong with liking electronics," Dave said defending himself. "I just find it rather fascinating the things that mortals have come up with considering that both Emily and I grew up in a time without anything except very simple machines. There certainly weren't TVs or radios or computers. Hell, we barely even had flush toilets."

"Something I was very glad they invented," Emily said.

"They were actually invented in 1596, before we were born, but the technology wasn't widespread," Dave said. "It wasn't until almost a hundred years later that they became more common. Nowadays, toilets are automatic for the most part."

Aaron listened to the conversation in quiet amusement, finding that he liked Harper's family a great deal, which wasn't really surprising as they were the ones that had raised his mate to be who she was after all. Still, he was glad that he liked them so much as it would make spending time with them much more enjoyable then if he hated or at least disliked them.

By the time they left the Rossis home it was after 10 o'clock and Aaron had enjoyed himself more than he had in a long time. He was looking forward to spending many nights in a similar manner, because not only was the company pleasant the food was absolutely spectacular.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

"I really like your family," Aaron told Harper, as he drove towards what was now their home, not just his.

"I'm glad you do," Harper said, as she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Dad was right there's no reason that we can't go for lunch or dinner every week or two, as we won't live so close to each other for more than a couple of decades probably. My family has been living in New Orleans for over 30 years already and I can't see them staying for more than another 20 maybe 30 years."

"Still, that's a long time," Aaron commented. "I mean with such thing as plastic surgery, which most people probably assume that all your family has gone through at some point, if they are at all familiar with them..."

"It just means we can stay somewhere for longer, probably even hundred or more years," Harper agreed. "I mean people can live to be over 250 in this century barring accident, murder or disease, so it's not at all unusual if a family lives somewhere for 250 years or so. Still, my parents like to travel, which isn't surprising really, but they'll probably stay here longer then normal just to be near one of the last of their children."

"Yeah, it's kind of sad that you'll never have any brothers or sisters," Aaron said. "On the other hand, I can certainly understand their decision. You said that they'd had well over 200 children and that's certainly more than most Immortals have, before they decide to get themselves permanently fixed."

"I suppose," Harper said.

"Believe me, being pregnant can be a very painful process, particularly after you go into labor," Aaron said. "I mean you have to eat a lot more than you normally would to keep the baby healthy and then after they are born you have to lose the weight again if you don't want to keep it on I mean. There are also intense cravings for odd foods that you only get when you're pregnant."

"You sure do know a lot about it," Harper teased him.

"Sisters," Aaron answered simply. "I've been there a few times when they've given birth. I also have a mother who has not finished having children despite the fact that I'm 500 and she is considerably older."

"I understand," Harper said and she did

"I can actually understand her reasoning," Aaron added after a few minutes of silence. "I mean Immortals, as a rule can only have children every 70 or 75 years, so despite the fact that she's considerably older than I am she really hasn't had that many children, especially since she's taken several long breaks. Really, she's only had about 15 or so including myself and that's not very many at all for an Immortal."

"No, it's really not," Harper agreed. "It would be a lot for a mortal, but not for one of our race, especially considering how far apart they're spaced."

"Yeah, I would love to have a whole gang of kids running around," Aaron said looking wistful.

"You and my dad are very similar in that regard," Harper said. "I always wondered, well, ever since I was teenager anyway, why my parents or my aunts didn't have anymore kids then the two of us. Now, I know it's because dad had himself permanently fixed."

"But that didn't happen until you went off to college so they must of been using some kind of contraceptive."

"They all had IUDs. Well, my mother and aunts anyway," Harper said. "I just remembered that, as it was years ago after all and I was also young."

"Yeah, that would've done it and it would've prevented your dad from getting any of them pregnant, unless they forgot to have it replaced once a year like your mother did for hers, the last time she got pregnant with you and your sister. The IUDs nowadays, are very efficient and there was only a very small chance that any of your family would've been able to get pregnant while they were using them," Aaron said.

"Well, I might want to do that someday, but not now, as we haven't even had our first kid yet," said Harper.

"I'm sure you will at some point, but not anytime soon I hope," Aaron said smiling at the thought of having a child by his mate.

"No, considering I am going to have one one child every 100 years I don't think I'll be using one of those for a long time if ever," Harper said. "I wish we could have at least two back to back so that our kid would have a playmate, but I do understand the strictures that Iliythia is forced to work under."

"If we live in an Immortal community that wouldn't be a problem," Aaron said.

"I know, but I like living in the big city," Harper.

"Well, we could at least move to a city that has more Immortals then here in New Orleans," Aaron suggested.

"Maybe someday," Harper said. "Perhaps New York where my family lived long before I was born, as there is a high concentration of Immortals there."

"Well, it certainly something to think about for the future," Aaron said smiling. "I've visited there, but I've never lived there. It's been a long time since I've visited, several hundred years."

"Yeah, that's for the future," Harper agreed. "We wouldn't even have to buy a place because my family still owns the place they bought when they lived there and right now it's being lived in by one of my siblings with their mate. Even though I've never seen it from what I understand it's really too big for just one family unless you have a lot of children. On the other hand, it's already paid for."

"You know there's nothing that says that your sister can't live with us if she wants to come along when we move to New York in a few decades. If this place is as big as you say they'll certainly be plenty of room," Aaron suggested.

"You know I hadn't thought of it like that, but that's not a bad idea," Harper said. "From the way I understand it a lot of my twin siblings live together or at least close by to each other. If this place is big as my parents say it is then we could fit my whole family in it and still have plenty of privacy."

"Considering that your father and three mothers share room I would say so," Aaron said, smirking a little.

Harper didn't bother to correct Aaron when he said three mothers because really he was right. She might call JJ and Emily her aunts, but really they had been just as much mothers to her as the one that birthed her.

"Yeah, from the way I understand it they have about everything you could possibly want. Exercise room, although the equipment probably needs to be replaced unless Richard and his mate Heather have done so, pool, game room, Jacuzzi, whirlpool, sauna, even a small library with real books instead of just reading off a computer or reader."

"Yes, sounds like the perfect place for us to go whenever we decide we're ready to head to New York. Of course, that all depends if anybody is living there at the time as we wouldn't want to horn in on their life, even if they are your family."

"Yeah, all the other children before Brooke and I are much older than us that we probably don't have anything in common. I've met a lot of them and while I know that they're related to me..."

"You have about as much in common with them as you do a stick of wood," Aaron suggested.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far and we were incredibly young when we met some of them, so things might change if we met again. I mean they had decades, even centuries under their belts while Brooke and I did not. We were just little kids to them and it's hard to change first impressions," Harper said. "Still, I know they would come and help me out if I was in trouble for example as we are family after all, even if we don't have much in common."

"I'm afraid that happens a lot in Immortal families," Aaron said. "With the way that children are usually so far apart, they don't have a chance to develop that sibling connection unlike mortal siblings do. I have siblings too as I told you and mostly I'm not very close to any of them. We are just too far apart in age and have totally different interest. Still, I do have a relationship with a couple of them, even if we're not super close. I'm sure you'll meet them someday."

"I'd love to," Harper said. "You've met my family after all it's only fair."

"I'll have to introduce you to my parents sometime in the next few years," Aaron said.

"So what do you want to do once we get home?" Harper asked.

"Well, if you're not too tired I know what I want to do," Aaron grinned at his mate and Harper blushed, because she knew exactly what was on her mate's mind without even having to ask.

"No, I'm not too tired so long as we save the BDSM for later. It's been a long day after all and that always takes more energy then I have at the moment."

"Which is just fine," Aaron said grinning at Harper's answer. "I'm tired myself and those sessions always lasts longer then I believe either of us wants to bother with tonight. Of course, don't be surprised if I wake you up in the middle of the night when I get a hard-on."

Harper blushed again, because for the last week Aaron had been waking her up at least once a night to make love to her, because he developed a hard-on in his sleep. She certainly didn't mind when he did that and hoped he would do it for many centuries to come.

"I certainly don't mind," Harper said. "I know technically, you're five centuries old, but you still have the body and energy of a 30 year old man."

"Which is one of the great things about being Immortal," Aaron told her sincerely. "You look old enough to have finished college and get a decent job, but still, have plenty of energy."

"I never thought of it like that," Harper mused.

"You're still young while I am not and your father definitely isn't," Aaron said.

"I have no idea how old my father actually is," Harper admitted.

"Well, if you listened to some of the comments he made at dinner about flush toilets and technology you figure he was born sometime in the 17th or 18th century, so he's at least a thousand and is probably more than that," Aaron said.

"You're probably right and if that's a case he's old," Harper said.

"Really a thousand or whatever is just a number to Immortals," Aaron shrugged. "We'll be that old someday me much sooner than you, considering I'm already 500."

"You have a point," Harper considered. "So when are we going to see that seer you mentioned to see if they can discover who our second mate is?"

"Next week if you like," Aaron said. "Saturday would be best, as that's a day I have off. I doubt she will be able to tell us a thing, because I'm sure our other mate hasn't even been born yet, if they're mortal, but since you never know..."

"It's a good idea to check every few years anyway," Harper finished.

"Exactly," Aaron agreed.

Aaron pulled into the parking lot that led to his condo and turned off the engine, before getting out and walking briskly around the car to open Harper's door for her like a true gentleman.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"So what's Aaron like?" Brooke asked her sister.

"It's been wonderful so far," Harper told her sister, with a very sappy expression. "He's so gentle, tender and loving, but he also has a kinky side. We've been out on several dates so far, just to be seen you know. It might not matter if we are seen or not, but Aaron just wants to be on the safe side. As we said the other night we don't want rumors to start about me being a gold digger."

"Yeah, I remember that from the conversation over dinner the other night," Brooke agreed.

"If he wasn't assistant bank manager then we could probably get away without being seen in public, mainly for appearances sake. Really, it probably wouldn't matter, but you never know how nosy people will be. Still, in the privacy of our condo he's so thoughtful, loving and tender. He's always a gentleman at least in public, although he can be quite the tiger in bed."

"Well, I'm glad you're so happy," Brooke said finally, looking slightly wistful.

"I am," Harper with another sappy smile. "I might wish that we could have children sometime in the next five years or so, but since I know that's not going to happen there's no point of dwelling on it."

"Yeah, I know that's one thing I hate about being Immortal," Brooke agreed. "I'm a lot like you I wouldn't mind having half a dozen little ones at one time, but we both know that's not going to happen."

"I kind of understand why Ilithyia had to arrange it the way she did though," Harper said and Brooke nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I do too, but it doesn't mean we have to like it," Brooke said.

"No, it doesn't, although I will appreciate the break in between children. On the other hand, there are such things as contraceptives that are very efficient," Harper pointed out,

"While that's true, we both know that not every Immortal would be responsible, just like not every human is responsible when it comes to having children after all and since Immortals were once human..." Brooke said.

"And humans only have a certain number of years to have as many children as they want," said Harper, as she ate her lunch.

"And they usually stick to two or three," Brooke said.

"Well, I already know that childbirth isn't easy, even if I've never experienced it for myself," said Harper.

"Still, I can't wait to meet my mate and have some children," Brooke said sounding rather melancholy.

"I can't blame you," Harper agreed. "I've been thinking along the same lines myself. I know it will be decades before Aaron and I have our first child, but I can't help wishing that I could have them every five years like our family did before dad had himself fixed."

"Well, Ilithyia might've blessed our parents and aunts, but I doubt the same thing will happen to us," Brooke said.

"No I don't expect it to," Harper said. "It might be nice, but there's no point of dwelling on something that isn't going to happen."

Both sisters sighed wanting the same thing, but knowing it just wasn't possible. There had to be some concessions since Immortals lived basically forever, as it was all about balance and both Harper and Brooke understood this.

"I doubt they'll be any other Immortal that will be able to have children every five years for a long time, as there aren't many like dad at least not that I've met," Brooke said.

"No, there isn't," Harper agreed. "Still, we've never met everybody in the world, so I'm sure there are other people like dad out there and not necessarily just Immortals. I doubt dad is one of a kind, though his kind of attitude is probably rare."

The twins enjoyed their lunch once it was brought.

"I'm certainly glad that you're not so busy that you forgot all about your favorite sister," Brookes said finally.

"I could never do that," Harper said. "Aaron pointed out to me not too long ago that just because we were involved in a relationship did not mean that I could forget about my family. Since Immortal siblings are born so far apart, well, mostly, there are not usually very close. There are some exceptions of course, as Aaron said that he has a relationship with a couple of his siblings. It's still not a very close one, because of the age difference and also because they don't have many similar interests. They are just to different to ever be very close."

"At least it's some form of connection," Brooke suggested.

"Yeah, that's true," Harper agreed, as she finished off her spaghetti and meatballs, while Brooke finished off her chicken and rice with mushrooms and cheese.

"So what did you mean that Aaron into kink?" Brooke asked quietly.

"You know the BDSM scene," Harper explained looking around to make sure there were no observers, though it wasn't like anybody could hear them because each table had a privacy shield up and so long as it was engaged no one would be able to overhear their conversation. Still, it paid to be cautious.

"You mean some of the stuff we looked up, but never tried because you need to trust your partner absolutely, just because it sounded interesting," Brooke said.

"Exactly," Harper said smiling, as she remembered the session just the other night.

"Wow!" Brooke said. "I never expected anyone who was 500 to be into that kind of thing."

"But you have to remember that he was born when it was already around," Harper said. "He admitted that he'd tried some things with former girlfriends, but nothing too heavy or dangerous. He said that there're some things about the BDSM that he'll never try, but that there's no reason we can't try some of the techniques just to see what we like."

"So what have you tried?" Brooke asked eagerly.

"Nothing too extravagant right now, since we've only known each other for a week and a half. We are taking it slowly, feeling our way," Harper explained. "We've only done some spanking and for the first couple of sessions he only did it really lightly, just enough to sting. After that, with my permission of course, he graduated too heavier spanking that made my butt throb for several minutes before the pain disappeared. We haven't gone any farther than that yet, though we plan to."

"Well, it sounds like you're off to a very good start," Brooke said smiling.

"Yeah I didn't even insist on a written contract like a lot of those in the BDSM community do," Harper said.

"I'm not surprised, because if there's one person you can trust, it's your mate," Brooke said.

"Exactly," Harper agreed smiling hugely. "We both agreed that we would discuss anything with the other that we wanted to try and while Aaron and I haven't tried very much yet, we also haven't been together very long."

"That does make a difference," Brooke agreed. "So what are you going to try next?"

"I don't know," Harper admitted. "The spanking is more fun than I expected and it made the sex afterwards even better, not that it wasn't pretty spectacular before. I told Aaron when we were discussing the subject we can't really remain vanilla in our lovemaking considering how long we live."

"That's the truth," Brooke agreed. "I'm sure there're some Immortals out there that wouldn't agree with us, but then we were only born in the last 30 years, while they probably weren't."

"If they want their relationship with their mate to get stale, that's on them," Harper suggested, rather unsympathetically.

"Don't you wonder if our parents..." Brooke again.

"I did actually," Harper admitted easily. "Aaron thinks that they probably do and while I agree, I don't want to think about it."

"I would definitely agree with that when it comes to mom and maybe Aunt Emily, but as for Aunt JJ..." Brooke said.

"That's possible," Harper admitted. "On the other hand, if she saw how much her sister's were enjoying being spanked for example she might've agreed to try it for all we know. Dad probably won't get to outrageous with Aunt JJ, but as for the other two it's quite possible that they do more then the spanking. I have to admit that Aunt JJ doesn't seem like one to try something that causes pain, but it's possible she discovered that a certain amount of pain can make her and dad's sex life even better..."

"That she got over her reservations," Brooke said.

"We also have to remember how old they all are and Aunt JJ certainly has more experience in the world than she did before she met dad."

"So you think that, as old as she is that she might have tried some stuff from the BDSM subculture, just to make her and dad's sex life more interesting," Brooke said.

"I'm just saying it's possible," Harper shrugged. "I mean when you're hundreds of years old you can't remain vanilla, as just plain sex gets kind of boring if you do it for a hundred years."

"I would say so," Brooke agreed. "I think the divorces would be much lower in this country if people didn't remain vanilla as you put it. I mean if your sex life gets stale and you don't do anything to correct it..."

"You're probably right," Harper said. "Of course, with Aaron, considering that we're mates and there's a bond between us, its not going to be possible for us to ever get a divorce when we do get married. Not that I would want to," Harper added hastily. "I'm already so in love with him..."

"Which is the way it should be," Brooke said and Harper nodded in complete agreement.

"I know very well that our love will only deepen over the next 50 or so years until to separate on a permanent basis would destroy us both. If only the rest of the world could have such a bond there would be far fewer divorces," Harper said.

"Yeah, I know, unfortunately, humans don't have such a thing," Brooke said.

"Which is too bad," Harper said.

"Yeah, it is," Brooke said, as she finished her lunch. "I'm sure that dad at least would agree with us if we were to bring the subject up with him."

"Probably," Harper agreed. "By the way this something I want to tell you."

"What's that?" Brooke asked.

"Well, Aaron and I were discussing how close you and I are a few days ago," Harper began. "And he reminded me that a lot of times twins live close by or even together, particularly those that are Immortal, since we tend to share a connection that's much stronger then the one with mortals."

"What are you suggesting?" Brooke asked that she studied her sister intently and Harper would never admit it, but she suddenly felt as if she was under one of those high-powered microscopes.

"Well, he was just suggesting that whenever we move elsewhere that you're welcome to come along, to move in with us. With the quality of the soundproofing in the better homes you'd never hear it when Aaron and I are busy. If you wanted to have a place to yourself, well, that'd be okay to. Right now, you living with us isn't necessary, because you live with mom and dad and our aunts close by."

"But the situation isn't always going to a be like that," Brooke said. This was something she had already realized in the week and a half since Harper had met her mate.

"No, it's not, but it'll be a few decades before Aaron and I at least move somewhere else and probably our family to, though of course, I don't know that for sure."

"I heard them discussing it the other day," Brooke admitted. "They decided to stay at least another 10, 15 years. The house we are living in is about as private as you can get and the neighbors rather incurious, which is really all you can ask for."

"Not to mention there are ways to change your appearance like our parents do on a regular basis," Harper said.

"Put gray or white in your hair," Brooke said.

"Exactly," Harper said. "But as to the other signs of aging if anybody asks you can always say that looking young is in the genes and from living a fulfilled happy life, because when you're happy you do not get stressed out as much which creates lines in your face and also gray or white hair."

"Or they can always say that they had plastic surgery, the women anyway," Brooke suggested smiling.

"That's true," Harper said. "Of course, some men have plastic surgery to, but dad's not that type at all and anybody who knows him even a little will never believe it."

"He just tells them it's good genes and a regular exercise routine," Brooke smiled a little as she remembered.

"Yeah, I remember that one incident where one of the neighbors actually asked dad straight out why he looked as if he was no more than 35 or so," Harper said.

"I think the neighbor was rather shocked at his answer," Brooke laughed.

"I don't know why, because a lot of men don't look their age either because of good genes and clean living. Regular exercise also helps," Harper laughed. "Of course, what dad said was true, but I don't think the neighbor...what was his name? Believed it."

"That wasn't dad's problem, because he basically spoke the truth, though of course, it wasn't the whole equation, not in his case at least. I think the neighbor's name was Henry Fairfield," Brooke supplied.

"That sounds about right," Harper agreed after a moment of thinking. "How old were we when that encounter took place?"

"18 or 19, maybe 20," Brooke said.

"I think you're right," Harper agreed. "We had just finished our first year of college, now that I think about it."

"I still think we should have gone at 16 but mom and dad wouldn't let us," Brooke said.

"I can't really blame them for that, even if we were mentally and emotionally ready," Harper said. "We were the last of their babies and they had a hard enough time letting us go as it is, even though we went to college right here in New Orleans," Harper said.

"We didn't know we were the last, not until recently," Brooke said.

"No, but they did," Harper pointed out.

"That's true," Brooke said. "I'm still not sure how I feel about that."

"Neither am I, but it wasn't our decision, now was it?" Harper said.

"No, but since I would've likely tried to talk them out of it, I suppose it's just as well that they didn't tell us until it was already a done deal," Brooke said.

"It wouldn't have done any good," Harper said, "and it was none of our business anyway, Brooke. We were their children and they were the parents, so it was their decision alone. We were only eight or nine when they first started talking about it and they just finally decided that it was time once we had gone off to university. Even if they had told us their decision before dad went through that operation I doubt very much that either one of us could've changed their minds."

"Yeah, I know," Brooke admitted finally. "It just seems rather strange that we'll never have any more siblings, that we are the last."

"It does, but it's not our right to interfere," Harper said. "They would never let us for one thing and would have told us gently, but firmly that it's their private business. They would have every right to, even if they might be gentle about it since we are their children. We might as well forget it, as we have no say in what our parents do. Nobody does really, except for them."

"You have some say in what Aaron does though," Brooke suggested.

"To a certain extent yes, I do," Harper agreed, as she fiddled with her fork. "On the other hand, I would never directly tell him what he can and cannot do. What we have, what all mates have is a partnership of equals. I would never do anything that would damage the bond between us and neither would he. He's not likely to do anything that would upset me and I'm not talking about cheating since that isn't possible. No, we agreed to discuss any major decisions beforehand. I'll keep my word and I'm sure he will to. Of course, if the situation is desperate for some reason and he has to make some decisions very fast then that's different."

"Well, I see that you're already living in harmony," Brooke smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure, we'll fight sometimes, as I for one am very stubborn," Harper said and Brooke laughed, mostly because she knew it was true. Harper simply shot her a look and continued with what she was saying. "Also he's very commanding and in fact, it practically radiates off his skin. He's definitely not as laid back as dad is."

"Oh, dad, can be very stubborn and commanding to when necessary," Brooke said.

"Yes, I know," Harper agreed. "Aaron can be commanding all the time, although that might change once we've been together for awhile, as he was certainly very soft-spoken when we were talking. He treated me as an absolute equal, and listened to my opinions and took them into account, which we all know a lot of husbands or wives don't do, depending on who's in charge. I know who's in charge most of the time and that's just fine so long as he listens to what I have to say if there is time to. We have no idea what dad was like centuries ago, as even Immortals change in that amount of time."

"I hadn't thought of that, but of course you're right," Brooke said then asked when they were finished with lunch. "So when should we next meet?"

"I'll call you, as I'm not exactly sure right now," Harper said. "Maybe next time we can go shopping with mom and aunts JJ and Emily."

"That's certainly possible," Brooke agreed.

"We'll discuss it in a few days," Harper said, as she handed the waiter her credit card.

The waiter took it and it was back in just a few minutes.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

"How was lunch with your sister?" Aaron asked.

"It went just fine," Harper told him smiling, as she kissed him deeply. "We talked about a lot of things and we made sure we had the privacy shield that's on most tables up, so we weren't overheard."

"I always thought that that was a very useful invention that was created about 250 years ago, though they've certainly been improved on since then," Aaron said.

"Sure does come in useful when you want privacy in a public place," Harper said. "You can discuss just about anything without being overheard by the other diners."

"Including murdering someone," Aaron snorted his amusement clear.

"Well, yes," Harper said. "That does happen sometimes unfortunately, although not usually at such places that Brooke and I tend frequent. We went to a very nice place, where both of us know the food is excellent, the wine is certainly more than drinkable, the service is fast and efficient and the atmosphere is relaxed. I won't claim we don't ever go some place that has automated help instead real live human staff, but we certainly didn't do that this time."

"There's no need for you to eat in someplace that's more likely to give you food poisoning then not. Even that kind of thing affects us, though we get over it faster than a human would," said Aaron.

"I will never eat someplace like that unless the situation is very unusual," Harper shuddered. "I'm used to excellent cuisine as my father is a gourmet chef and even when we did eat out we always ate out at a higher class of place, never fast food."

"But at least fast food won't poison you," Aaron suggested.

"Well, no, and we did eat at them sometimes, just not very often," Harper said. "There was really no need to when we can afford to go to a higher class place, even if it is just a little café. Brooke and I got more than a decent amount of allowance, certainly more than most children get a week. Of course, we did things around the house to earn it to, so it wasn't just given to us. Sometimes we even went grocery shopping, as it saved one of the parents from having to do so, well once we got our drivers licenses anyway. We also had to keep our room clean and sometimes we did laundry. Also helping dad cook in the kitchen was considered part of our responsibilities and was something that neither my sister or I minded as we really enjoy cooking."

"That's good, as it teaches responsibility," Aaron said. "I certainly plan on implementing something similar when we have kids. I certainly had chores around the house when I was growing up, although some of them were certainly different than what they are today. No cooking for one thing, as it wasn't a skill I was ever taught."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Harper said, "Even if that doesn't happen for a few decades. By the way, I could teach you how to cook if you wanted me to."

"Maybe," Aaron conceded. "So why don't you tell me what you when Brooke talked about."

"Well I brought up the idea about her living with us at some point. Of course, right now she doesn't need to as she's living close by, but I told her as soon as we move somewhere new she was welcome. I think I said something along the lines that when we were busy she wouldn't even be able to hear us because a lot of the buildings have excellent soundproofing."

"Especially the ones built in the last hundred 150 years or so," Aaron agreed. "I'm glad she's not living with us now, because our bond is still very new. Once we've been together for a few decades it will be different."

"Yes, I totally agree," Harper said with a nod, not even blushing at the pleasant images that brought to her mind. "She didn't say anything to that really, but I know she's thinking about it."

"Well, she has plenty of time to decide, as it's not like we are going anywhere for at least another 20 or 30 years," Aaron said. "She'll always be welcome, at least until she meets her mate. Of course, if she and her mate want to live with us once they find each other then that's okay to, but I doubt it. It's possible, just not likely."

"Well, that's for the future," Harper said. "Brooke likely won't meet her mate for at least another 40 or 50 years."

"That's the likely possibility," Aaron agreed. "I doubt that we'll meet our second mate for at least that long, especially since I agree with you that they're likely to be mortal, as the odds of us having another Immortal for a mate are very high. It is possible of course."

"So do you think we only have one more mate or two more like my father does?"

"There's really no way to know, at least not until we meet our second mate," Aaron said. "I was actually surprised we had another mate, but this is probably our last one."

"Yeah, probably," Harper agreed.

"So anything else you want to tell me?" Aaron asked.

"Well, the only other thing we talked about was the fact that it was a shame that Immortals can only have one or perhaps two children every hundred years or so," Harper said. "Both of us are very similar in our desire to have half a dozen kids running around."

"Yeah, that is a shame," Aaron agreed looking sober. "If Immortals had twins more often it wouldn't be so bad, but growing up as only the child in your family is a lonely business, even if you have other children to play with."

"Aunt JJ would agree with you as she was an only child too. She didn't have an easy time her last three years of high school, because she had to move in with her aunt."

"Not your father," Aaron asked with a gentle smile.

"No, because he always had Aunt Emily and other Immortal children to play with," said Harper shaking her head. "Of course, from what I know he had other friends to at the time, but Aunt Emily was of course, the closest."

"Ours will have friends too, though they'll likely be mortal," Aaron said.

"So why don't I start dinner, as I haven't had a chance to cook for you yet and we can talk some more," Harper suggested.

"Sounds good," Aaron said smiling, as he kissed Harper's hair.

"Well, let's see what you have in stock and until I know I'm not sure what I can fix," Harper said, heading into the small kitchen that was part of Aaron's condo.

"I don't know what I have either that's any good considering I usually eat out. If I don't have anything suitable, then we can order pizza and one of us can go to the grocery store sometime in the next couple of days."

"Well, let's see what you have first," Harper said, as she checked the fridge and then the pantry. "I should've checked a couple of days ago at least, but I never even thought about it."

"Our relationship is still really new that it tends to overwhelm everything else," Aaron suggested. "It's going to take awhile for the intensity of our bond to die down, even a little, to where it's not so intense or all-consuming."

"Yeah, you're right. Dad said the same," Harper said. "I think I can make something out of this, but one of us really is going to have to shop for supplies. I can do that if you like, as I have plenty of time while you're at work."

"Sounds fine," Aaron said. "Use the credit card I gave you."

Aaron had given her credit card to his account a few days after they had bonded and she hadn't bothered to protest simply because this was how it was done and she knew it.

"Okay," Harper answered calmly, as she started to cook with Aaron watching her.

"Can I help?" Aaron asked.

"Not this time, but I'll start teaching you soon," Harper said. "Why don't you go take a shower and change into something more comfortable if you like as this is going to take a few minutes."

"Trying to get rid of me?" Aaron asked with a teasing smile.

"Not in this lifetime," Harper told him, as she kissed him on the lips. "I just thought you might want to go ahead and get a shower, so we can do other things after dinner."

Aaron perked up at that, so went and did what his mate asked. He was certainly looking forward to desert.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"So how's everything going with Aaron?" Penelope asked her daughter.

The two of them were window shopping at the biggest mall in New Orleans. It was just the two of them as they hadn't had a chance to spend time alone together in several months. Even Brooke had made herself scarce.

"Things are going great mom," Harper promised. "You don't need to worry about me."

"I'm not worried precisely," Penelope denied, "and neither is your father. We just like you to check in occasionally that's all, though I'm well aware how overwhelming a new bond can be."

"I suppose I have not been spending any time with you and dad like I should have," Harper said. "It's not like Aaron discourages me from spending time with my family."

"It's okay, I know you and Aaron have just been spending every spare minute together," Penelope said, "but you did promise that we'd go shopping or out to eat and we haven't done very much either."

"So I did," Harper agreed. "I guess I've just been so caught up."

"That's understandable," Penelope said. "It's really hard to pull yourself away from your mate when the relationship is so new. Believe me, I'm well aware of this."

"That's no excuse considering that Aaron's at work from 8:30 until 4:30," Harper said. "I really like the fact that we get to spend most afternoons together."

"I don't blame you," Penelope grinned. "I was really lucky that when I met Dave he didn't have a job like Aaron does, but of course, he did have three women, so it took time to learn how to balance all three of our needs. Still, he was used to juggling, because he had two mates at the time after all, so it didn't take long to incorporate me into what has become a very smooth family unit as you know. I'm not saying we didn't have a few struggles or arguments, but really, they were just minor hiccups. It helped that everyone was willing to cooperate and get to know each other, so that the family ran smoothly. Normally, you know the women would fight tooth and nail because of their jealousy."

"Yes, I can see that happening if it wasn't that the bond between mates prevented jealousy. I know myself well enough to know that I'd be intensely jealous if our second mate is a female, one that would share Aaron's attention if not for the bond. I can even say with certainty that Aaron would be the same, as he has an attitude of an alpha male, who tend to be very possessive of their spouses. With the bond neither one of us will be jealous of whoever our mate might be," Harper agreed. "Aaron and I have another mate out there, as you are aware, even if we have no idea if they're male or female. I'm sure you know that I at least don't swing in the direction of my own sex and Aaron's told me he's the same. Still, at least I know that neither one of us will be jealous of him or her whenever they are born and we meet."

"That's not unusual in the Immortal community, you know," Penelope said quietly. "You are aware that Emily, JJ and I are just sisters in every way and there's nothing sexual between us. It won't matter what sex your second mate is, both you and Aaron will still love him or her as much as you do each other, even if only one of you will have a sexual relationship with them and the other one just has one of deep friendship."

"I'm actually hoping for another female," Harper admitted. "Mostly because I'm a lot like dad and I wouldn't mind half a dozen children running around. Now, while I know that's not possible due to circumstances, having two within a year or so of each of other would be great."

"I can't blame you," Penelope said. "Dave, JJ, Emily and I were lucky that Ilithyia took an interest in us and allowed us to get pregnant every five years if we desired to. I don't expect that to happen again for a long time, possibly never."

"I don't either," Harper agreed. "They are not many Immortals like dad and I can definitely understand why Ilithyia seemed to take an interest in him and his mates. Still, it would be nice if we could have twins more regularly as having two at a time, would be better than having only one. It would give an Immortal's child a playmate for one thing, someone who was exactly like they were. Even having two a couple years apart would be better."

"I agree with that," Penelope said. "I think having only one child every hundred years is for the birds and while I understand why the gods had to arrange it that way I think having two at a time would be better than only having one, because as you said it would give a child a playmate that was just like they were. Someone that they didn't have to keep any secrets from, that they could tell everything to. However, no matter how I feel I'm not going to commit blasphemy against the gods, because I don't want to lose what I have. It might be annoying for most Immortals to only have one child every hundred years, but if they are smart they won't do anything stupid and you now why."

"Yeah, I do," Harper agreed.

"In any case, right now, you need to concentrate on Aaron and don't worry about children because they'll eventually come."

"I'll try," Harper promised.

"You do that," Penelope told her daughter smiling.

"I'll also try not to become so wrapped up in Aaron that we don't spend any time together," Harper added.

"If shouldn't be too hard now, as you've been together for several months," Penelope said. "I ought to know. Of course, for Dave and I the intensity of the bond wasn't so bad, because I was mortal at first. Still, it did take some getting used to, once I was fully Immortal like Dave, Emily and JJ were, but I've talked to others Immortals since then, ones that we've encountered at some point or another and a couple of them were mated. Let's just say that we talked about a lot of things and that was just one subject that happened to come up."

"I wonder if Aaron and I will ever meet other Immortals," Harper wondered.

"I have no doubt you will at some point," Penelope told her daughter. "The symbol that is on our mailbox, will be somewhere around the house of any Immortal, somewhere in the front whether that's on the mailbox or somewhere beside it or even above the front door where it'll be easy to see. More than one Immortal has knocked on our door just to see who lives inside the house and I have no doubt that it's happened to others of our kind as well, though probably not those that live in an apartment or condo like you and Aaron do, as it's not so easy to discover that symbol."

"Well, since our bond is still really new I'm glad about that," Harper decided.

"I can't blame you," Penelope laughed a little.

"You know I wonder what ordinary people think about houses that have such symbols on them," Harper wondered suddenly.

"I've actually been asked that very question a couple of times and I know that the others have to," Penelope shrugged.

"So what do you tell people that get curious?" Harper asked her mother.

"That it's the symbol to a society that we are all part of and none of us go into detail about what society," Penelope explained. "There are so many fraternities and societies out there that if anybody bothered to do any research they'd never find it. Even if they realized it was a runic symbol and did some research into them, it's just different enough that they wouldn't be sure. That would likely be the end of it, as most people aren't going to continue to be overly curious once they have a reasonable explanation for something. There are exceptions however."

"You know that's really smart," Harper decided. "I might need to discuss this with Aaron and see if he does something similar. Besides, I'm sure we're going to buy a house in a few years and we need to put the symbol of Immortals somewhere."

"I'm sure you're right," Penelope said smiling. She was definitely enjoying spending time with her daughter that she hadn't seen in several months.

"Why don't we go in here," Harper suggested.

"Okay," Penelope agreed looking at the men's clothing store. "I'm sure I can find something for your dad.

"And me for Aaron," Harper said smiling.

"Do you even know his sizes?" Penelope asked.

"Yes, I do, as I checked while he was working one day a month or so ago," Harper said. "I always had this idea in the back of my mind, but I didn't have a chance to do much about it. I mean I've seen how you and my aunts buy stuff for dad all the time so he really doesn't need to go clothes shopping. I just figured since I shop a lot I might as well do the same and I'm sure Aaron won't mind."

"If he's like Dave, definitely not," Penelope laughed. "Most men aren't very fond of clothes shopping for themselves, with some exceptions. Oh, Dave can do his own clothes shopping if he has to, but it's not something he particularly enjoys. Luckily, he has three mates that love to shop, particularly me and Emily, so we're always bringing him back a shirt or a pair of pants or a new belt. Well, you get the point."

"Yeah, I do," Harper laughed. "It's a good thing that I can store a lot of my clothes over at your place though, because there is just no room in Aaron's condo for them, so I think the sooner we buy a house the better or at least somewhere with more closet space."

"So that's why you haven't collected a lot of your things," Penelope chuckled. It did make sense, but she had wondered off and on why Harper hadn't come for the rest of her clothes and other items. Now she knew.

"That's why," Harper chuckled. "I knew that you and the others wouldn't mind if I just left a lot of my clothes over at your place for the time being. Once I have room for them believe me, I'll come and get them. We did talk about collecting them, but then I realized how many clothes I had and that there was no room for them at Aaron's place. He might not be the clotheshorse that I am, but still I doubt even half of my things would fit in his closet."

"Well, mystery solved," Penelope said cheerfully, as she and Harper looked at all the really nice things at the men's clothing outfitters.

"At least I came to get a few things," Harper said smiling. "I got everything that I thought I possibly had room for and I knew I could always collect the rest later."

"You're right, you can always collect the rest later, as I don't think our family's going to be moving for a couple of decades at least," Penelope said.

Mother and daughter enjoyed shopping together for several hours before deciding on a place to eat.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

"This is wonderful," Harper said, as she and Aaron danced together.

Aaron had made a reservation Skyfall Tower, which was one of the nicest places in New Orleans. It rose more than 100 feet into the air and you had a great view of the French quarter.

"You more than deserve it," Aaron told her quietly. "We've been together for nearly a year now and while we've been out on dates we haven't been anywhere so fancy. I just thought it was time to show you how much I love you."

"You show me every day that you do," Harper told him. "We spend every spare minute together and that's more than enough for me. You encouraged me to keep in contact with my family, which is something I forgot a few months ago until my mother kind of gently confronted me about it. I was just so wrapped up in the newness of a bond that I forgot my family is important. Sure, I went to lunch with Brooke every couple of weeks but that was the extent of it."

"I don't blame you for being wrapped up, as I've had trouble concentrating too," Aaron admitted.

"Mom reminded me that I didn't need to forget about my family just because of the intensity of the bond between us. She said it was different for her, because she was human when she and dad met the first time. She also said that the bond was still pretty intense once it was completed, but that it was different from the bond between us, because both of us were Immortal when we met."

"I hadn't thought of that, but your mother was right," Aaron said quietly, even as he danced with his mate wrapped up in his arms. "The bond would've been a lot less intense for your mother simply because your mother was human when they met and it would have strengthened gradually, as she became Immortal, but it still wouldn't be as strong as one that was between two Immortals who were mates. Once she was fully Immortal the bond would've been just like any other, just not as overwhelming, because she would have been used to the strength as the bond would have gradually increased in intensity instead of snapping into place all at once."

"That was something I didn't know and I think it's something that needs to be taught to any kids that an Immortal has just so they're not shocked when it happens," Harper said.

"Yeah, I agree with that and who knows some Immortals might teach their kids that, but I'm sure it just didn't occur to your parents to do so, especially your father," Aaron said.

"Probably," Harper agreed. "Dad usually has a pretty good memory, but he can forget things."

"So can anyone unless you have one of those eidetic memories," Aaron said with a gentle smile.

"Which some people do," Harper laughed.

"Yeah, luckily it's not very common," Aaron said.

"Why do you say that?" Harper asked genuinely puzzled.

"Because having an eidetic memory isn't all it's cracked up to be," Aaron explained. "Sure you remember anniversaries and birthdays and other important dates, but it also means that you never forget any type of tragedy. You never forget the death of a child or a parent. Normal memories fade over time, so that it lessens the pain of bad memories."

"But those with eidetic memory always remember every moment of agony or sadness," Harper realized.

"On the other side of the coin though, people like that also remember every moment of joy, of happiness, every event like a child's graduation with perfect clarity, so it's not all bad," Aaron said with a slight upward turn of his lips. "Some people deal with tragedy better than others do, but to some extent a tragedy always affects us on some level, especially if we're really close to a person whether that's a parent or a child or a favorite grandparent. Some people know how to compartmentalize, so that they don't think about it day to day, but some people never develop that ability either."

"It's not all bad," Harper said and Aaron shook his head.

"No, of course not," Aaron said. "I was just saying that I wouldn't want to be the one with the eidetic memory. Sure, I'd love to remember every moment with you with perfect clarity, but since I know there'll likely be some tragedy in our lives I'd just rather not remember those events with perfect clarity forever."

"I understand," Harper said and she did, but not on an instinctual level, because nothing really bad had ever happened to her or her family.

"It looks like our food has arrived, so we had better go and eat it before it gets cold," Aaron said glancing over at their table."

"Yeah, who likes cold lobster," Harper suggested. "Not me, that's for sure."

"Ever heard of lobster salad?" Aaron asked chuckling lightly.

"Sure I have, I just don't like it," Harper said.

Aaron filed that away, under his mental file on Harper. Every little fact he learned about his mate was precious to him, so he made sure he paid attention when she said something. It never even occurred him that Harper might've been doing the same except for him.

The two of them walked over to their table and Aaron pulled out Harper's chair like a true gentleman and Harper thanked him with a smile.

"Well, dinner looks wonderful," Harper said.

"It sure does," Aaron said smiling. "The service has been wonderful as well."

"So you have you been here before?" Harper asked.

"No, I've never had a need to come," Aaron said.

"I know my family has been here once. I believe it was for Aunt JJ's anniversary with my father. Brooke and I were left at home by ourselves, but we were like 15 and it was only for a few hours."

"Well, this place is certainly good to bring someone for their birthday or anniversary," Aaron said smiling. "I'm sure the two of us will be back at some point."

"I certainly hope so, because the food is certainly scrumptious," Harper said, as she took another bite of her dinner. "I won't say it's better than dad's, as that would seem rather disloyal, but it's certainly up there with it."

"Well, that's a compliment indeed," Aaron said smiling. "Your dad could own his own restaurant if he really wanted to, but so could you for you are just as good a cook as he is."

Harper blushed prettily, but said nothing

She would never admit it, but she loved it when Aaron complimented her, because it just made her feel all warm and good inside. Her parents and aunts had complimented her and her sister regularly when they were growing up of course, but it wasn't the same thing at all.

"Thank you," Harper said, knowing that Aaron meant what he said.

"You're quite welcome," Aaron said smiling, as he thought that Harper's blush was very pretty, though he would never tell her so. He quite enjoyed making her blush and probably always would. Unfortunately, once she'd gained some more years and experience she would be unlikely to blush so easily.

"So I've been meaning to ask what do your work colleagues think of me?" Harper asked.

Harper had met all of his work colleagues by this time, as Aaron had brought her around and introduced her to everyone. Most of the people he worked with had been really nice when he introduced her, but there had been one, a woman who had been rather rude. Aaron had told her later that Letitia Harrison had been trying to get a date with him for the last four years, but he had been smart enough to never date her, mostly because he had a feeling that it would've been very hard to break up with her when the time had come. Besides, he hadn't liked her attitude or her habit of throwing herself at him, as woman like that made him have the heebie-jeebies. In other words, she was way too desperate for his taste. Aaron hadn't been entirely sure what had caused Letitia to focus on him when he was hardly the only handsome man in the world, as he had turned her down on multiple occasions.

Harper remembered suggesting that maybe she had somehow found out about his wealth, as there were several ways to do that, and Aaron had been very thoughtful for that had not occurred to him before he had said it was very possible. He was not wet behind the ears or a soft touch, as he knew very well that most people were not completely honest, even if the crimes they committed were very minor like littering or jaywalking for example. Still, things like that while very minuscule when it came to a crime did show that a person would often do something without realizing that it was a crime. Of course, it was only a short step from a crime like that to more major crimes and it wouldn't surprise Aaron at all if Letitia Harrison had had several wealthy fish on her line over the years. It also wouldn't surprise him if those fish had given her a lot of expensive gifts or if she had sold them for considerable profit. Once Harper had pointed it out it seemed obvious.

The two of them finished their dinners while talking quietly.

"Harper, I've never been so happy, until the day you rocked my world. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Aaron asked producing a ring box from his suit coat pocket.

"Yes," Harper said as calmly as possible, although her insides were jumping with joy.

Aaron slipped the beautiful diamond ring on her finger and the two of them kissed briefly, knowing that the sex would be wild and passionate tonight, with no need of the usual foreplay.

The two of them had graduated from spanking to using a flogger, which was relatively safe to use. They had also tried restraining both of them at different times. Aaron seemed to like being restrained at least by Harper and he also like to be flogged on his back as he liked the sensation it caused.

Doing such things had certainly been fun and led to some great sex afterwards so that they would continue until they didn't enjoy it anymore, which neither saw as ever happening. Harper was certainly looking forward to when they got home and she knew without Aaron having to tell her that he was too.

The waitstaff missed nothing at the Skyfall and a waiter appeared their table. "Champagne, sir?"

"Definitely," Aaron said. "And could we also have one of your signature chocolate cheesecake desserts?"

"Yes, sir," the waiter said, as he took their order old an electronic pad. "It will be here momentarily."

"Well, you sure do know how to tempt a girl," Harper said smiling.

"You love chocolate and so do I, so we might as well enjoy it," Aaron shrugged, although he smiled at the same time.

"Well, I'm just going to have to spend a couple of hours in the exercise room at my parents place then," Harper teased him.

"I don't think you need to worry about gaining weight from one chocolate desert," Aaron told her smiling.

"No, but my problem is I love stuff that's fattening for me. I also realize however, that I can't diet for the rest of my life. Mom made sure this was something Brooke and I understood while we were kids. I believe that dad had a talk with her shortly after they met and told her that she couldn't diet for the rest of her life considering she was going to be Immortal. I believe that's why she took up exercising."

"Probably," Aaron agreed in a quiet tone of voice. "I have to agree with your parents on this one, you can't diet for the rest your life, just so you don't gain weight. If you were only going to live a few decades then you could do so with difficulty I'm sure, as you have a strong will, but since we live basically forever it's just not practical. You would deny yourself so many good foods, just because you didn't want to gain weight and he would soon grow tired of eating things like salad and other healthy foods every day. While those things that are healthy are good for you they have little taste and would have even less taste after awhile, even with salad dressing or other things. You would soon grow very tired of eating the same things every day. Everybody needs variety whether human or Immortal, but this is especially true for those that live for thousands of years."

Harper nodded and said no more, because even though they were talking quietly and had the privacy shield up this wasn't the place for this kind of conversation. Technology could fail after all, though that was unlikely in a place like the Skyfall. Still, you never knew.

Their champagne and dessert arrived just then and both of them concentrated on sharing the delicious chocolate cheesecake along with the champagne.

"Well, that was beyond delicious," Harper said rubbing her tummy. "Nice, chocolatey and rich just the way I like it."

"It was very good," Aaron agreed, as he picked up Harper's hand in his own and kissed the back of it. The expression in Aaron's eyes made Harper shiver in anticipation, because it was as if her mate wanted to gobble her up, figuratively of course.

"Well, shall we get out of here?" Harper suggested with a rather lecherous expression. "I think we need to celebrate our engagement privately."

"Just what I was thinking," Aaron smiled with a rather intense look in his eyes that told Harper that she was in for an all night session of wild passionate sex, but she wasn't about to complain if that was the case. "I'm sure the waiter will be back in just a minute with the check and we can get out of here."

"Sounds good to me," Harper smiled. "I can hardly wait until we get home."

"Neither can I," Aaron said, smiling in anticipation.

Aaron's words were said in a mild tone, but the meaning behind them made Harper shiver again, as she knew that a spectacular night of lovemaking was ahead of her. She could hardly wait.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Congratulations," Dave said.

It was the very next day and Harper and Aaron had both wanted tell the Rossis the news, first thing.

"Thank you," Harper said smiling, looking radiantly happy.

"We've actually been expecting this for at least a month or so," Emily said, as she brought the champagne.

"We knew it would happen of course, just not when," JJ said, as she hugged and kissed Harper on the cheek and then hugged Aaron as well, which he accepted.

"Welcome to the family," Dave told Aaron.

"Thank you," Aaron said smiling widely. "Finally finding my mate still feels unreal."

"I know that feeling very well," Dave said smiling as he remembered. "I always had Emily and I'm grateful for that, but finding both JJ and Penelope and them accepting, well, it was rather surreal for awhile. That faded eventually though and it will do the same for you."

"So when is the wedding?" Penelope who had been silent after the initial greeting asked.

"We haven't had time to discuss details mom, as we were rather busy last night," Harper said smiling not bothering to go into detail. Besides, none of her family needed her to draw them a diagram. "We still need to decide on what kind of wedding we are going to have, but it will probably be fairly large, because Aaron has clients, friends and business associates that would be insulted if they weren't invited."

"I at least would prefer to keep it fairly small, but I don't think we're going to get away with that," Aaron said in a resigned tone.

"Unfortunately, you chose a profession that required a lot of hobnobbing with people," Dave suggested.

"Yeah, I did," Aaron said. "For the most part I enjoy it, but there are limits. I actually like most of the people I work with or for, but not everybody."

"You can't like everybody, not even everybody work with," Emily suggested philosophically

"That's the truth," Harper said. "I've met all the people he works with now and I like most of them."

"So who is that you don't like?" Brooke asked speaking for the first time.

"There is this woman Letitia Harrison who's been after Aaron for the last four years," Harper explained.

"She kept throwing herself at me," Aaron explained, "but I never fell for her wiles. I never understood why she kept being so persistent, as it was clear I wasn't interested, until Harper pointed out to me recently that she might have discovered the fact that I'm more than wealthy and that might be her reason as to why she was being so persistent."

"Harper is probably right," Penelope said. "There are several ways that somebody can discover how much somebody is worth, even if they don't talk about it, so it's very possible that this Letitia Harrison did discover that you are fairly wealthy. A lot of people are amendable to bribery and that might be how she found out."

"Well, if she knew what bank I had my money in I suppose it's possible," Aaron said. "The bank I'm using now doesn't even have all of my wealth, as that is in the Bahamas, which is untraceable. I certainly keep enough in the bank I use though for someone like her to be very interested. Why it never occurred to me that could be why she was pursuing me so hard is beyond me now."

"It might be because you're such a gentleman you don't like to think of a woman that is capable of something like that," JJ said. "Of course, logically, you know they are, but deep down it's hard to imagine any woman going to such lengths."

"I have to agree with Aunt JJ on this one," Harper said. Though one with a wild side, Harper added in her thoughts, internally smiling. "You are a gentleman and I imagine you don't like to think of a woman as being capable of something like trying to take advantage of you just for your money."

"I once would've agreed with you," Dave added, "but I've had to learn to adjust my thinking. I was raised in a time where mostly women were considered pure and innocent, virginal, but then women tend to be more devious than most men and weren't caught as often."

"But it doesn't mean they not capable of committing just as many heinous crimes as any man," Brooke said.

"Of course not," Aaron agreed. "I'm just going to have to adjust my thinking that's all. It's not like I haven't encountered women that turned out to be far worse then Letitia Harrison, but not often."

"I'll be glad to help you with that," Harper said. "You have me now to help watch your back."

"Yes, I do," Aaron said smiling, as he kissed Harper's cheek.

"So you guys can help me plan a fairly big wedding," Harper told her family.

"We'll be happy to," Penelope squealed happily.

"Absolutely," Brooke said.

"I'll just leave it to you ladies and just agree with anything you want," Aaron said smiling.

"I'll cover the bills," Dave said. "Its traditional and it's not like I can't afford it."

"Thanks, dad," Harper said.

"You're quite welcome, sweetie," Dave said, as he hugged his daughter. "All any of us ever wanted for you or Brooke was to be happy and you are with Aaron, so this is the least I can do. It's not like I'm about to protest your choice of husband. I mean not only is he your mate, he's a gentleman, he's polite, but most of all he makes you happy."

"Of course not," Harper said smiling.

"Now, if we could just find our other mate," Aaron said.

"I don't expect you find them anytime in the next 50 years," JJ said.

"No, it'll probably be much longer than that," Aaron said. "Believe me, I'm well aware it'll probably be at least 150 years, if not more."

"And both Aaron and I believe that our other mate is likely to be human," Harper added.

"That's very possible actually, even likely," Dave said.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Emily said.

"Yes, we will," Harper said. "Still, it will give Aaron and I considerable time alone, without having to incorporate anybody else into our dynamics. By the time our last mate shows up our dynamics will be very smooth and at that time we should be able to incorporate somebody else without too much trouble."

"Which might be the reason why it takes so long to find your mates if you have more than one," Penelope pointed out rather dryly causing everyone to laugh.

"That's possible," Dave said smiling. "Not many Immortals have more than one mate, but when it does happen, that might be the explanation as to why you find your mates so far apart."

"It doesn't really matter," Aaron said smiling. "All I know is I'm much happier now than I was before."

"And so am I," Harper wholeheartedly agreed.

"So can you two for lunch?" Emily asked hopefully, but the others were obviously looking at them expectedly.

"I don't see why not," Aaron said. "I don't have to go back to work until Monday and spending time with your family is hardly a hardship."

"Something I totally agree with," Dave said, as he and Aaron grinned at each other conspiratorially.

"I'll go fix lunch," JJ said shaking her head. It looked as if Dave and Aaron we're getting on very well and she suspected that they would soon become the best of friends, which wasn't a bad thing at all, as it always helped to get along with your in-laws.

Dave and Aaron shared surprisingly similar views and personalities, with differences of course. Still, it was no wonder why the two of them were getting along so well, as they appeared very similar in many ways.

"I'll help you," Brooke said, rising to her feet.

"Another glass of champagne?" Dave asked Aaron and Harper.

"I don't think one more is going to hurt either one of us," Aaron said. "It's certainly very good quality."

"Dave would never buy anything cheap," Penelope said dryly.

"Why should I when all of us have plenty of money?" Dave asked the room at large rhetorically.

"We shouldn't have to," Aaron agreed immediately with Dave. "If you have the money you should able to use it the way you want so long as you don't hurt anybody or do anything majorly illegal."

"Other than what we have to do to keep under the radar," Penelope said.

"Well, yes, there is that," Aaron agreed. "Of course, now I have somebody that can change our background when necessary."

Aaron meant Harper and everybody knew it, as she was quite as good on a computer as her mother. Penelope had taught her twin daughters everything she knew and both could take it up as a profession if they cared do, though doing so came with its own dangers.

"Yes, you do," Harper told Aaron smiling. "Something I'll be happy to when necessary."

"Planning to take it up as a profession, sweetie?" Dave asked his daughter.

"Not for awhile," Harper said. "The bond between Aaron and I is still new and intense and even when it's not I'm not sure I want to take it up as a profession, not even after the bond dies down considering I know that there are some people out there, that would want to kidnap me and use me for their own purposes. Yes, it could be very lucrative to do so, but I'm not sure I want to put myself or any children we have in danger."

"Can't really blame you there," Penelope agreed. "Some people just want to make money from someone else and don't care at all about what that person wants."

"Well, if someone did try to use you for their own purposes believe me they'd find me standing in their way," Aaron said fiercely.

"And all of us too," Dave said gesturing at his family.

"I'll think about it that's all I can promise," Harper said.

"I'll think about it too," Brooke said.

"Well, I guarantee you that anybody who kidnaps anyone in our family won't be alive very long," Dave said looking fierce. "Its not like Ilithyia doesn't expect us to not protect our family when something like what you're suggesting happens. Just because there didn't use to be any evil or at least misguided Immortals doesn't mean there isn't now, as it's a been very long time since our race began."

"I totally agree with that and I'll definitely be with you if such a thing should occur," Aaron promised. "After all, you're my family now as well."

"Yes, it's useful to have someone that can change someone's background, but instead of paying for the privilege some people just want that kind of power for themselves and have no trouble kidnapping somebody who can give them what they want," Penelope said shaking her head.

"Immortals have bad people too," Brooke suggested.

"Oh absolutely," JJ said smiling. "Still, every single one of our children was taught how to defend themselves and a lot of them took up martial arts. Things can still happen though."

"Still, most Immortals aren't stupid," Aaron suggested. "They must know the risk they are taking if they try to kidnap someone, particularly another Immortal, especially the mate of another. I mean Immortals have families that will come to their rescue and the kidnappers will wind up dead."

"Still, even Immortals can be stupid, not to mention selfish and greedy," Emily said. "I've encountered more than one like that over the decades."

"I think all of us have encountered Immortals like that, except perhaps for Harper and Brooke," Aaron said.

They all chatted with each other until JJ came to tell them that lunch was ready and then they all headed into the nice comfortable kitchen to eat and talk some more

The ladies of the house were certainly looking forward to planning a big wedding ceremony and they were intending on going all out, but then, Harper really didn't expect anything less since it was one of their youngest children's weddings.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

70 years later

Toronto Canada

"You're pregnant?" Aaron asked excitedly.

"Yep!" Harper said grinning from ear to ear, because she was so incredibly happy.

"You're sure?" Aaron asked hardly daring to believe, even though it had been nearly 71 years, since he and Harper had mated. Both he and Harper had wanted children so badly and finally that day had arrived.

"I'm sure," Harper promised him. "Believe me, I know the the symptoms considering that we don't ever get sick. There can be no other reason I started throwing up at different times of the day."

"No, there can't be," Aaron suddenly grinned picking Harper up easily and twirling her around.

Harper simply laughed at Aaron's exuberance, as she knew very well that he had been wanting a child for decades now, but then so had she. Harper remembered how Aaron's colleagues had been disappointed when the two of them never had the family the both wanted, which happened a lot of times for different reasons, so it wasn't suspicious, though it was disappointing. "I'm so happy."

"That's obvious," Harper laughed. "I'm very happy about this too and I can hardly wait before he or she is here."

"Neither can I," Aaron said still grinning.

"Wait until we tell my family the news," Harper said. "You know that they'll all be ecstatic for us."

"Well, we can tell Brooke right away since she's living with us," Aaron said grinning, as he thought of his mate's sister who had matured, mentally and emotionally into a beautiful woman, but then so had Harper. The two of them were now just over 100 years old, but they certainly didn't look it and were just as young and beautiful as they always had been. Personally, Aaron thought his mate was the most beautiful woman in the entire world, even though she didn't look different then she had when they first met. Oh, she changed her hairstyle fairly frequently sometime even the color of her eyes, but she was still the woman he loved with all his heart.

"Yeah, we can," Harper grinned. "Brooke will be very happy for us and you know it."

"And so will your parents and your aunts," Aaron said smiling. He couldn't seem to stop smiling actually.

"So let's go to Graciela that my mother always used when she was carrying twins, just in case she had to have a cesarean, you know? She can confirm the pregnancy for us and tell me how far along I am," Harper said.

"That's an excellent idea," Aaron approved. "It's unlikely you're carrying twins. It's certainly a nice thought though."

"Oh, I know, but we still need to have my pregnancy confirmed and since she's already the family doctor she's the perfect person to go to," Harper agreed.

"And this way we don't have to hunt up a new doctor, one that's Immortal," Aaron said seeing the wisdom in his wife's words.

"Exactly," Harper agreed. "It's no problem for her to come to us or us to go to her as it's not that long of a shuttle trip no matter where she is."

"No, the shuttles have gotten really fast," Aaron admitted.

"It's helps that they all have hyperdrives," Harper said. "Ones that can be used even on earth instead of just out in space. Most places really are not more than 10 to 15 minutes away."

"It sure is convenient if you want to go over to Italy for some shopping," Aaron grinned.

"Yep! It sure is!" Harper agreed cheerfully. "Of course, we often use them to go somewhere romantic for a few days or even just for a meal."

"As I said they're convenient," Aaron said.

"I think that we won't be able to do that for awhile anyway at least not after the baby is born, as they need a lot of attention," Harper said.

"That's what live in family's for," Aaron told her. "We should still be able to take trips every few months anyway. I'm sure Brooke or your mother would love to look after our child for a day or two or even a few hours."

"That's a good point," Harper said.

"Besides, the baby can go most places with us unless we just want the time alone," Aaron pointed out. "Now that we've been mated for over 70 years, though time alone is appreciated it isn't as desperately needed, as it would be if we had just gotten together. That's not to say I don't always love time alone with you, just that neither one of us is as desperate for it as we once were."

"You know that might be why Ilithyia arranged for Immortals to only be able to get pregnant every 70 years, as she knew that they would need at least a few decades basically by themselves before children came into the picture," Harper suggested.

"That's certainly possible," Aaron considered. "It might have been a consideration, but we must remember that not every Immortal would've been responsible enough to block conception until the intensity of the bond died down, so that might be a reason as well."

"And we have to remember that more centuries ago then we've both been alive there wasn't really anyway to block conception either, even if they're now numerous ways to stop from getting pregnant," Harper said. "Just think back to when your own parents and grandparents were born, particularly the latter."

"That's something I hadn't thought about but you're right," Aaron agreed. "That might be another reason why Ilithyia arranged for Immortals to have babies the way she did."

"It doesn't matter," Harper decided. "I'm just really excited that we are finally going to have a child of our own."

"I know what you mean," Aaron said smiling. "I'm sure your twin will be over the moon when we tell her that you're expecting."

"She will be and you know it," Harper said, anticipating her sister's reaction. "We're going to have to be a little careful though, because if I know Brooke she's also going to be a little jealous. I know we try our best not to be too overt in our relationship whenever she's around, but we are not always successful and I know she's hiding her sadness and loneliness. Loving your family is different from having a mate of your own. I don't want her to be jealous just because we're finally going to have a child."

"I don't think she will be, honey," Aaron said, as he pulled Harper closer to him. "Sure, she might be a little sad that she hasn't met her mate and therefore have a child of her own yet, but I think you're underestimating her. I truly believe that she'll just spoil our son or daughter rotten and in fact, it will probably stave off the loneliness for awhile anyway."

"That might be why she volunteers at the daycare center close to here," Harper said. "She loves kids just like I do and this is her way to interact with them, until she can have some of her own."

"I think she's having the time of her life and that's very likely the reason why she's doing so," Aaron agreed. "It gives her something to do a few days a week, for a few hours every day and I know the people who run that place appreciate her help, especially since it's free."

"It also gives us more time alone, which I certainly appreciate," Harper said smiling.

"So do I, but that means she's also close by whenever both of you need some girl time. I know how to make myself scarce when necessary," Aaron said.

"She'll make a great mother some day," Harper said.

"You'll make a great mother to whenever this child gets here," Aaron said, as he rubbed her still flat tummy.

"Well I figure I couldn't of been pregnant more than two months, possibly three, so I say sometime in July the baby will get here," Harper estimated.

"Well, we'll see how close you are when you see Dr. DeWitt," Aaron said and Harper simply smiled. "You're probably pretty close actually, maybe off by only a few weeks."

"Well, if I was any farther along then three months I'd definitely be showing at least a little," Harper shrugged.

"No, I don't feel a baby bump yet, but I have no doubt that you'd be showing, at least under your clothes, if you were much farther along then three months," Aaron said smiling, as he thought about the child that was growing within his mate.

"That's what I figure," Harper agreed. "I'll go call Graciela now and at least leave her a message. There's no telling where she is, as she might be in a time zone where it's the middle of the night. She can just call me back."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Aaron said smiling. "I think you should tell your sister and the rest to your family first though, before you call Dr. DeWitt."

"That's probably a good idea," Harper considered. "We wouldn't want them to think that they were the last to be told, as that would hurt them and I would not want to do that."

"No, neither would I as they've been very supportive of our relationship," Aaron said.

"You know the reason why they have though, but still, you do have a point," Harper said.

"Of course I do, don't I always?" Aaron teased his mate who laughed heartily.

"I can hardly wait until he or she is here," Harper said quietly after a few minutes of contemplative silence.

"Neither can I," Aaron said. "A first baby is always really special, especially to our species."

"I can understand why," Harper said. "Considering how far apart we have them it's not surprising at all that children are extra special."

"No, it's not," Aaron agreed. "Why don't we go out to dinner to celebrate."

"That's an excellent idea once we inform my family about the upcoming birth," Harper said smiling. She and Aaron went out to eat fairly often and not always to dinner. They were both fairly early risers so they often went to breakfast somewhere. Of course, for a lot of meals she cooked for him and he always appreciated it often complimenting her on her cooking skills.

"You had better call your family then," Aaron suggested.

The Rossis were living out in San Diego California, as they had moved from New Orleans more than 30 years ago, after Aaron had retired from the bank and he and Harper had decided it was time to move elsewhere.

The Hotchners had gotten married soon after Aaron's proposal, as it had been only four months later. The wedding had been planned quite fast, but with all the women of the family working on it, it was no wonder. Between Harper, Brooke, JJ, Penelope and Emily, it hadn't taken anytime to make all the arrangements.

As for Aaron and Dave they had just stayed out of it as much as possible and simply said yes, dear whenever they were asked something.

The wedding had been beautiful with a lot of Harper's and Brooke's siblings and half siblings there. Still, both Aaron and Harper were certainly glad when they were officially man and wife. As a bonus both of the youngest Rossis got to know some of their siblings a little better. They even maintained contact with them.

There was great excitement when Harper informed the family that she was pregnant and she knew they would likely be showing up on her and Aaron's doorstep sometime in the next day or two. Still, neither her or Aaron minded, as Aaron and Dave got along just great and were the best of friends, which wasn't a bad thing considering that Dave was his father-in-law. Aaron was pretty close to the females in the family to, which was also good as it meant there was no tension between him and his in-laws.

"Well, that's done, so now all we need to do is tell Brooke whenever she gets back," Harper said.

"She should be back soon," Aaron said looking at his watch.

"Well, I say we stay busy until she arrives," Harper suggested with a rather coquettish wink.

"I'm not about to say no to an offer like that," Aaron said brightening immediately.

Harper simply laughed knowing how to distract her mate very effectively after all these decades and it always worked.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Twins?" Dave questioned in astonishment when Harper and Aaron told the family what they had found out from their doctor.

"That's what Graciela says," Aaron said still looking rather shocked. "She says that Harper is just far enough along to be able to to tell and that's about six weeks."

"No wonder you're already throwing up, as I usually was throwing up within a few weeks, though each pregnancy differed," Penelope said, as she to looked rather flabbergasted.

"Well, none of us suspected twins for your first-ever pregnancy," Emily said.

"I don't know how you can expect something like this, even though twins run in our family," said Brooke. "I mean twins are always a blessing from the gods and they usually don't happen very often."

"Not for us they don't," Aaron said shaking his head in wonder. "Harper and I were already looking forward to the birth of our first child ever, but now, there's even more reason to."

"I would say so," JJ said.

"Well, I'm certainly looking forward to my first grandchildren from one of my youngest daughters," Dave beamed.

"It's not like you don't have plenty of those already," Harper suggested with a raised eyebrow at her father.

"We really don't," Emily denied. "Sure, quite a few of our children have found their mates and had children of their own, but we only have maybe a couple of dozen. I'd have to check the family tree to be sure."

The family tree was something that had been created by Penelope on the computer in order to keep track of their numerous children, their mates and their grandchildren and it was always being added to.

"Still, a couple of dozen is a lot," Brooke suggested.

"Not when they're born so far apart it isn't," Dave denied.

"I think your father has a point personally," Aaron said. "If they were born close together then my opinion would be different."

"Of course, you agree with him," Harper teased her mate. "You two are like peas in a pod."

"There's nothing wrong with having similar morals, ethics and values," Aaron protested laughingly.

"I didn't say there was," Harper pointed out, smiling.

"You know since Aaron is so similar to myself in the way he conducts himself maybe Ilithyia has taken a special interest in you both. You did tell us back when you first got together that you have another mate and that's a sure indication that the gods are rather pleased with you," Dave suggested.

"That's something that I hadn't considered and I should have," Aaron said thoughtfully.

"We haven't had a chance to consider hardly anything considering how shocked we were when we learned we were having twins," Harper said. "I'm still in shock if truth be told."

"You have every reason to be," Penelope said understandingly. "I was certainly shocked the first time when I was told I was having twins and just as shocked the second time. After the fourth or fifth time of having twins back to back, well, it just became standard instead of shocking. I won't say I wasn't amazed every time I learned I was having twins whenever I got pregnant, but even that reaction wore off after awhile."

"If you had been mortal there's no way you would've had twins more then three maybe four times in a row, no matter how astonishing that would've been," Aaron said. "It has happened before where some women have twins two or three times in a row. It doesn't happen very often, but it does occur."

"It helps that twins and triplets are more common in this century then they were hundreds of years ago at least among humans," Emily suggested. "I'm sure if we were able to look at the statistics we would see how much having multiples has risen in the last few centuries."

"Yes, it does," Harper agreed.

"It helps that people are living much longer now and women, are even having children into their 50s, so it's no wonder there's more multiples being born," JJ said.

"Women tend to have more multiples the older they are, though not always of course. It is speculated by scientists that at least 80% of pregnancies start out as twins," Penelope added. "Sometimes women are carrying twins or even triplets but then suddenly at least one of those babies disappears for some reason."

"Yes, I've heard of that phenomenon I believe it's called the vanishing twin syndrome," Aaron said.

"That's right," Penelope agreed. "With me I never had one of my babies be absorbed into the other twin or even into my uterus, though I'm sure it was possible."

"I'm definitely grateful for that," Dave said with real feeling. "I just know it would've torn me apart if the doctor said you were having twins and then suddenly you were only carrying a singleton."

"Me too," Penelope said JJ and Emily echoing her.

"Of course, it would, just as it would any parent who's looking forward to the birth of their children," Harper said. "I'm definitely looking forward to my twins being born."

"Still, we all know that if the gods hadn't taken a special interest in your family there's no way that Harper would be having twins whether or not they ran in her family," JJ said

"I'm grateful as I've always thought that I would like to have two or three in a row just to give whatever child I have a playmate that's just like them, you know? Aaron and I have talked about it on occasion, but we were always aware that we would only have one child at a time and it didn't matter that twins ran in my family."

"Well, it looks like the gods heard you, honey," Penelope said smiling. "I think they decided to give you a break."

"Yes, I'm very lucky and very grateful," Harper said putting a hand over her still flat belly. "I'm hoping for one of each, but we'll have to wait to see, as it's much too soon to tell, even with the advancement in medical technology."

"There are just some thing's you can't improve on honey and being able to tell the sex of the baby earlier then 12 weeks is just one of those things," Penelope suggested.

"That might be true, but it's going to be hard waiting until we know," Harper said.

"I know that feeling very well," JJ grinned. "I was always anxious to know the sex of the baby I was carrying no matter how many children I'd had."

"That's the understatement of the millennium," Dave snorted in amusement.

"So are you guys planning on staying around until after the babies are born?" Brooke asked.

"You don't need to," Aaron told everyone. "Once Harper gets further along in her pregnancy and closer to her due date then you can come and help out, but there's no point of interrupting your lives when she's only six weeks along."

"Have you thought about all the weird cravings she's going to get in a few weeks?" Dave asked Aaron. "All three of these ladies got different weird cravings throughout their pregnancies around the three-month mark. I was happy to cook for them even at 3 AM."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Aaron admitted. "I'm certainly no cook I'm afraid and while there are 24 hour places, most restaurants close by 10 or 11, unless it's an all night club, a bar or a 24 hour diner."

"I can cook," Brooke offered. "I'm not saying I'm going to like being woken up, but I can certainly do so until she's had the babies."

"I can cook for myself," Harper protested.

"I'm well aware that you can, but once you get farther along in your pregnancy you're not going to be very comfortable standing on your feet for any length of time," Penelope told her daughter firmly. "Believe me, I know and I was always grateful that Dave was there to help me whenever necessary. He is the main cook in the family and at the time we met I could only do the bare basics and ate out a lot, even if I've improved my skills a lot since that day so many centuries ago. Dave had to be really patient with me as it took a lot of practice for me to be able to really cook a good meal and I'll never be as good as he is, since he has a natural flair for the cooking arts."

"You cook just fine," Dave told her seriously. "Still, it's true that I do most of the cooking, but JJ and Penelope, even Emily sometimes do help out so that is not such a big job and I always appreciate the help."

"Cooking's really never been my thing," Emily explained, "so it's just as well that Dave's such a good cook, although it would've been considered unmanly of him if anybody had known that back in the century we were born. I can cook I just don't enjoy doing so and why bother when Dave cooks so well?"

"Not everybody, woman or not enjoys preparing a meal," Aaron agreed. "But then I was born at a time where men did a lot of the cooking for their family or just themselves and it wasn't the least unusual."

"Well, it wasn't so unusual for a man to cook among Immortals," Dave admitted. "Still, I asked mom to give me cooking lessons knowing even back then that Emily didn't enjoy preparing a meal. She sometimes prepared a meal, but she avoided doing so, as often as she possibly could and still does even today. It doesn't really matter, though since I can cook so well," Dave shrugged. "I don't mind preparing a meal and mom taught me well. Of course, I learned a lot more as Emily and I traveled to different countries."

"And he's still learning different recipes whenever he can," JJ added smiling.

"Eating the same thing again and again can get rather boring, even though I have hundreds of recipes to choose from," Dave shrugged.

"Well, you've got to do something with your Immortality," Harper suggested. "I have quite a collection of cookbooks myself, though I'm sure you could teach me a lot, as I know you've probably picked up a couple hundred more recipes in the last few decades."

"There's always the Internet which has some great recipes sites," Brooke added.

"Yeah, I have quite a collection of bookmarks from various recipe sites," Harper said smiling.

"Well, they're are some great recipes that I've picked up over the last 70 years or so," Dave admitted smiling.

"See! I knew it," Harper said triumphantly.

"I'll be happy to teach you, before you get too far along in your pregnancy because Penny's right it is very difficult to stand for very long by the third trimester," Dave said. "I suspect that Graciela will be telling you to stay off your feet as much as possible by then anyway, as that's usually what she told Penny."

"She might even assign you to bedrest, because sometimes even Immortals can have difficult pregnancies," Penelope added. "It might not happen very often, but occasionally it does."

"And not for the same reason that it happens to mortals either," Emily added. "Mortals can have a difficult pregnancy because they're bodies are not suited to have children, which unfortunately, happens sometime or because they've had too many children too close together that it just wears out their bodies."

"You don't think I'm going to have any problems do you?" Harper asked worriedly.

"I doubt it, sweetie," Penelope said reassuring her daughter. "I'm just saying that that kind of thing has happened to Immortals to. It's very rare and it's never happened to me or to your aunts either, so I wouldn't worry about it.

"Well, Graciela didn't seem worried," Harper said somewhat reassured.

"Believe me, she would've said something if she thought there was a problem," JJ assured Harper. "She's completely honest, which is one of the reasons she's our preferred doctor or used to be before we stopped having children."

"See, there's no reason to worry," Dave told his daughter. "She'll keep a close eye on you throughout your pregnancy, especially since you're carrying twins and will tell you if she believes that there's going to be a problem. I wouldn't worry too much honey, even mortals have twins every day somewhere in the world and come out of it just fine. With today's medical technology there's very little to worry about."

Aaron shot Dave a grateful look and he nodded.

"I think maybe that we'll head back home at least until you get farther along," Dave decided. "It's only a few minutes trip back and forth so there's no reason that we can't visit frequently, though it will likely be us visiting you instead of the other way around, particularly after you get farther along, but that's just fine."

"We'll be here for the birth and that's a promise," Penelope added.

"Absolutely," Dave grinned. "I'm looking forward to having two more grandchildren to spoil."

"Why am I not surprised?" Harper asked rhetorically smiling.

"Because you know how much your father loves children?" Emily suggested smiling.

"That could be it," Harper said, still smiling.

All of them chatted for a few more minutes before Dave, JJ, Penelope and Emily headed back to the hotel they were staying at for a few days.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting visit," Aaron said.

"Yes, it really was," Harper laughed. "I know my family will be a major part of our children's lives."

"And there's nothing wrong with that at all," Aaron said smiling, as he pulled his mate closer to him. "Why don't you get dressed in something really nice and I'll take you out for a celebratory dinner."

"Sounds just fine," Harper said. "We need to go out to fancy places before I get so big I won't fit in any of my really nice gowns."

"You going to be buying some maternity clothes pretty soon anyway sis," Brooke who had been silent said. "It won't be more than a few months."

"You're right," Harper agreed still smiling. "Still, I'm looking forward to it, as strange as that sounds.

"Brooke you need to get dressed to, as I would never think of leaving you here. This is a celebratory dinner for all of us," Aaron instructed his sister-in-law smiling.

Brooke lit up at that and nodded. "The others are going to be upset that they missed out."

"Well, we can always have another dinner maybe next week sometime," Aaron said. "They'll be here for a few days after all."

"Besides, we don't have to tell them we went out to celebrate without them," Harper said with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"No, we don't," Brooke said in immediate understanding.

The two shared a conspiratorial look, before they both rose and headed upstairs to get dressed for their dinner out and Aaron looked after them for a few seconds before following.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

249 years later

"Aaron," Harper said.

"What is it, honey?" Aaron asked automatically looking up at the sound of his mate's voice.

"We're going to meet our other mate soon," Harper explained.

"Vision?" Aaron asked Harper intently.

"Yes," Harper said.

Harper's visions hadn't bothered her for the most part over the last 300+ years and she was grateful that she didn't get them very often. She figured that the gods were being kind, because she had chosen to not take it up as a profession or tell anyone outside her own family that she had the talent and therefore, have people come to her to see what she could see. She could have and she probably would've had many more visions if she had, but while she had the talent to see the future she knew what a pain it could be. Still, it did come in useful, though occasionally it could still be a pain when the gods were determined that she was going to help someone who was in some sort of bad situation. Harper wasn't sure if these people were important to the future or if the gods were just taking an interest in them because they were good and kind, but naïve something that people with evil intentions could easily take advantage of.

"How soon is soon?" Aaron asked.

"Probably sometime within the next couple of weeks," Harper said. "Or at least it feels that close."

"Are they Immortal or mortal?" Aaron asked next.

"I can't tell," Harper admitted. "I didn't see him wearing the Immortal symbol, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything."

"So it's a male then," Aaron said, as he absorbed the new piece of information.

"Yes, and fairly handsome too," Harper teased Aaron.

"If you're trying to make me jealous it isn't going to work," Aaron told Harper calmly with a small smile. "We've been expecting this for some time, ever since we met and mated actually and they would've had to be one or the other."

"I'm not really," Harper said. "Because yes, we have known this was coming for over 300 years now."

"So what does he look like and do you know his name?" Aaron asked.

"As for what he looks like as I said he's fairly handsome with deep brown hair and light brown eyes, tall, over 6 feet and slender more like a runner then a football player. His hair seems to be naturally curly, because I can't see a guy getting a perm to make it like that."

"Or using a curling iron," Aaron snorted.

"Well, it's possible of course, as some men do like to do that kind of thing, but until I learn otherwise I'm going to say they are natural," Harper said.

"They probably are," Aaron said. "So I take it you don't know his name?"

"I'm afraid not," Harper shook her head. "I think that the gods want us to meet naturally instead of me looking him up on computer, as you know how good I am at hacking. I could find him in 10 minutes or less I'm sure if I knew his name," Harper said.

Aaron knew very well that Harper wasn't bragging, as he had seen her work her magic on the computer more than once over the last 300+ years. That her mother and twin were also as good amazed him and he had been told that some of her siblings were also very good on the computer and had taken it up as a profession in one field or another. The Rossis were certainly one talented family which was something he could definitely respect and the fact, that they were entirely honest, except when it came to protecting the secret Immortals was definitely something else that he appreciated since he was the same.

Of course, Aaron realized that Harper's mother would've taught her children everything she knew about hacking and computers in general, but that didn't mean that those children wouldn't have to have the brains or the talent for it.

"Probably," Aaron agreed. "So are we going to meet him here in Las Vegas or elsewhere?"

"Here," Harper said with certainty. "I recognize some of the buildings as being right here in Las Vegas. I think it was somewhere in the business district, but I'm not positive."

"Now that's interesting," Aaron said thoughtfully. "He might be a businessman of some kind or perhaps, he is just working for one of the businesses in that area."

"He was dressed pretty fashionably, from what I could see of him, so I would say he's doing well for himself. Well, either that or he comes from a very well-off family," Harper said.

"You know a man like that might have a family," Aaron said looking a little worried. "Especially if he's completely mortal."

"That's a good point," Harper said biting her lower lip worriedly.

"Well, there's no point of worrying about it until we know," Aaron decided putting his worry aside. "For all we know he might be shy around women or men for that matter, as some people are like that. So how old would you say he looked?"

"No more than 35 or so and really he didn't look, even 30 so I have no idea how old he really is," Harper said. "I'm guessing here, but he's probably one of those people that look much younger than they really are."

"He could be Immortal," Aaron speculated, "and if he is it will be much easier to get together then if he's not."

"I have a feeling that he's completely mortal, but don't ask me to explain it any better than that," Harper said positively.

Aaron nodded for usually his wife's feelings were spot on so their mate was likely mortal, which would make it more difficult to explain things to him.

"If you're right, he might reject us you know," Aaron said.

"I know," Harper whispered. She had been worried about that very thing for the last few weeks at least, as she had felt that there may with close. "Believe me, I've been worrying about it on and off for the last couple of months at least, as I felt that finding our second mate was approaching. Remember, I told you that the odds were that our other mate was human."

"Yes, I remember that and it was probably Ilithyia giving you some warning," Aaron suggested

"Probably," Harper said. "At least it means we won't be surprised when one or both of us run into him."

"No, we won't be," Aaron said, as he kissed Harper tenderly.

"I was actually hoping for another female though," Harper sighed.

"Why?" Aaron asked curiously, not upset or anything just curious, as to why Harper felt that way.

"Children," Harper explained in one word.

"Ah," Aaron said in understanding.

"I know I've had twins every time, which definitely means that we have Ilithyia's favor and believe me, I'm grateful for it..."

"But it's always been your dream to have half a dozen kids running around at least," Aaron said in understanding.

"Yeah, even having one more kid at around the same time would be great," Harper said. "It's not that I'm upset really I was just hoping..."

"That our mate would be female," Aaron said.

"Yeah," Harper admitted softly.

"Believe me, I understand honey, but you'll soon see that this guy whatever his name is, is right for our little family or Ilithyia never would have made him our mate," Aaron said softly. "I understand where you're coming from, really I do, but you knew a long time ago that our other mate could be either sex. Sure, it would've been nice to have another female just so we could have more children at one time, but that's just not the way it was meant to work out. I know you realize that we're lucky to have twins every 70 or 75 years, so at least children are never without a playmate that's just like them. Besides, Ilithyia, hopefully, will allow you to get pregnant twice, since our second mate is male. it would keep things more equal."

"Yeah, a lot of families only have one child because they have trouble giving birth or conceiving," Harper said. "That's usually not an Immortals problem, but sometimes it is. And by the way, I agree with you about me getting pregnant twice, once by each of you, though I'm not sure that's possible."

"We'll see, one way or the other. By the way, you forgot to mention that a lot of couples don't have any children at all because they can't seem to conceive," Aaron reminded her gently. "Not everybody can afford IVF, even if it's come down a lot since it was first invented in the 1970s."

"I suppose I should just be grateful for the fact that we can have children and that we've had twins every time," Harper sighed.

"Yes, at least we can have children, even if that's only every seven decades," Aaron said.

"I'll just be grateful for what I have from now on," Harper said.

"What about if we have a whipping session upstairs, as it will make you feel better," Aaron suggested.

Both Aaron and Harper had found out over the centuries that a little pain was a great stress reliever for both of them, so long as it was done by somebody they trusted to not go to far. Both of them enjoyed being flogged or whipped, though nobody knew it, except for Brooke who often lived with them, as it was a private thing for both of them. Neither one of them had ever joined the BSDM scene. No, they had experimented and become experts with all kinds of BDSM tools, floggers, whips of all kinds, even riding crops."

"Sounds great," Harper said eagerly. "Not only does it lead to some great sex afterwards a lot of times making love isn't enough to relieve the tension I feel coiled inside me."

"Believe me, I know it," Aaron said with a grin. "So how much pain do you think you need to relieve that tension inside you today? Do you want me to use the leather whip, the rubber one, or the one made of nylon?"

"Rubber," Harper answered immediately.

"You're in the mood for a lot of pain then," Aaron said appreciatively, because if there was one thing he had learned about his mate was that she had a high pain tolerance, which had only gotten greater the more they played.

"I'm not sure why actually," Harper admitted.

It was certainly something she had thought about off and on over the last few centuries, but she had never figured out why she enjoyed being flogged or whipped so much. She knew she had told Aaron that they couldn't remain vanilla when it came to their sex life considering that they were basically Immortal, but that didn't mean that she had thought she would enjoy the pain of being whipped, whether that was with an actual whip, riding crop or a flogger. A lot of it had to do with trust she knew, she trusted Aaron not to go to far, though far was a lot farther away then it had used to be. Both of them had practiced on mannequins and had gotten quite good with all kinds of BDSM tools. One of the other things that she really appreciated though was that when a particular whip left abrasions, bruises or even small cuts on her skin they healed up within a few minutes, so there was no evidence that she had ever been whipped in the first place

She and Aaron didn't have a true sub/dom relationship, no, they just did it for fun and because it made their sex life have more variety and their climaxes far stronger.

"You've had a lot of tension for the last couple of months," Aaron told her. "Just dealing with people can be rather frustrating, but you always have men coming over to you that don't know how to take a simple no, I'm married for an answer. I know very well that people can get married for six months, a year, five years, ten years or a lifetime, but so many men today seem to think that there's no way you could be in what is most commonly known as a traditional marriage. They assume that you'll be available sometime in the future and even if you weren't that you'd be interested in at least dating them."

"That's part of it certainly, people can be so rude," Harper said, sounding exasperated. "Some of them I just want to slap silly when they keep being so persistent or knock unconscious. I know very well I'm a beautiful woman, but I'm also very married to you and I have no intention of divorcing you just so I can supposedly be free for other men who are interested. Some of those men can't seem to believe that you and I married in the traditional way, as they think that my assets should be for them as well. If they annoy a married woman so much I wonder what they do to those that are single."

"They're probably far more annoying, because they don't have anybody to protect them," Aaron suggested.

"By anyone you mean a man," Harper said.

"Well, yes," Aaron admitted. "You know I don't think that way, but that doesn't mean, I don't know how some men think."

"Well, at least it doesn't happen too often," Harper sighed, "as fending them off can get rather annoying and definitely frustrating."

"I remember that one that you, used one of those taekwondo kicks on. That sure did get that guy to back off," Aaron laughed, as he remembered.

"Yeah, he was one of the really persistent ones," Harper giggled. "One that wouldn't take no for an answer, even after you came over. I suppose that just goes to show that we shouldn't go to those low class dance clubs as the men there tend to be rather persistent and the management of course, isn't going to do anything about it unless forced to."

"Too afraid of losing business," Aaron agreed. "We'll stick to the high class of clubs for awhile, as men tend to be more polite in those types of places."

"Sounds good, because I don't want to quit dancing with you, just because some guys can be total parasites."

"You've also been worrying about finding our mate for the last of couple of months anyway, as you had that feeling that it was getting close," Aaron said.

"Yeah, I have and the fact that I just knew he's human. I guess I've been worrying about how we're going to explain to him all about Immortals considering the technological age we live in. People might write fantasy novels, but most of them don't really believe in the stuff they write about and the fact that Immortals are real is about as fantastic as you can get."

"Well, at least we know it's a man," Aaron said, as he and Harper walked into their bedroom.

"So do you want to go first or shall I?" asked Aaron.

"I'll be happy to go first," Harper said, as she positioned herself on the Saint Andrew's Cross that was set up on one side of the room. The cuffs automatically locked over her wrists and ankles as soon as she was positioned without Aaron having to do anything at all, as they were electronic.

"Do you want light or hard?" Aaron asked, knowing that he was going enjoy the whipping his mate, but only because he knew that she enjoyed it when he did so. He would never be able to physically harm her without her consent, but thankfully, he and Harper were well matched in this way and both enjoyed a little pain, sometimes a lot of pain depending on the mood and the stress they had been under. It was a great stress reliever and the sex afterwards was spectacular, even more so than usual. They had graduated from just spanking in those early days, to using a paddle sometimes, even those with little metal knobs that made it sting even worse. While they still used a paddle sometimes, they much preferred to be flogged or whipped, because while the pain could be excruciating it also released certain chemicals in the body that could make you sexually aroused. It helped that bruises or even cuts didn't last more than a few minutes after they were done and neither did strained muscles, which was one of the great things about being Immortal and that is they healed quickly. Still, they were careful not to injure each other too badly during these sessions, as there was such a thing as going to far.

They would have to be even more careful with whoever their mate was if he was into the BDSM scene, at least until he was Immortal like them and if he wasn't perhaps, they could get him interested, but that was for later.

"You can start out lightly and I'll tell you if I want you to do it harder," Harper suggested.

"Sounds fine to me," Aaron agreed. "Do you want, 4 feet, 6 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet or 12 feet?"

Aaron was asking her how long she wanted the whip to be, as he was an expert on all of them

"Let's start off with the paddle the one with the metal hearts," Harper suggested, eagerly.

"I'll be happy to leave hearts all over your behind, as it's just a visible sign that I own you heart, body and soul," Aaron grinned. This was a paddle that Aaron had found in one of those BDSM shops and had bought it immediately. It had certainly gotten a lot of use since then. In fact, it had gotten so much use over the last six years that it was starting to get worn out and Aaron knew that soon he would have to buy another. "Too bad those marks won't last very long."

"Yeah, it's too bad," Harper agreed. "Still I know who I belong to with or without the hearts."

"Yes, you do," Aaron mock growled possessively, "and I'm going to prove it to you."

Harper fell silent knowing that this was the start of their game and she was not to speak, at least until she gave a safe word, to either stop the session or to ask Aaron to switch to something else. Cries and whimpers of course were allowed. They had never bothered to use a gag, as neither one of them liked that and the house was soundproof, so why bother? Even Brooke couldn't hear them so long as their bedroom door was closed Aaron enjoyed hearing her whimpers and cries, but only because he knew that she was enjoying herself. The second the enjoyment stopped was the second that Aaron would stop the session completely.

Aaron came back from retrieving the paddle from where it was kept and immediately started hitting Harper lightly on butt with it.

Harper felt the hits, but told Aaron after only a couple of minutes. "Harder, much harder, as I can hardly feel a sting at all as it fades instantly."

"Your wish is my command," Aaron said, as he started using the paddle in much harder strokes then he had been doing previously.

Harper couldn't prevent from crying out, but since that's what her mate expected she did so without trying to hold her whimpers back.

"Is this hard enough for you or do you want me to graduate to a riding crop or flogging?" Aaron asked.

"I think the whip would be best one of those 6 feet ones," Harper decided, the pain already fading, even though Aaron had hit her as hard as possible without breaking the paddle, leaving a temporary imprint of three hearts on her butt.

"With only one tail or multiple ones?" Aaron asked next more than willing to comply with her request. If his mate wanted to relieve stress he was more than willing to accommodate her and not just because the sex was spectacular after a long session, but because it helped both of them release emotions that they were keeping bottled up. Keeping emotions bottled up wasn't good for Immortals, just like it wasn't good for mortals, so releasing those emotions was a good idea, as it made both of them less uptight and pain was their preferred way to do so, except for sex of course.

They did eventually talk about what was bothering them, but they usually, had other methods of releasing that bottled up emotion before they got to that point.

"Multiple," Harper decided and Aaron nodded to himself.

"Absolutely, do you want nylon, leather or rubber?" Aaron asked.

"Rubber, as I already told you before we started. I think, I really need to release the tension that's been building for awhile," Harper said. "It's getting harder to keep it all contained and I don't want to explode on someone especially you or my family."

"And rubber is the one more likely to leave open cuts and abrasions if it's done hard enough," Aaron agreed.

"I'm not worried about that as they heal immediately," Harper said. "I don't know why I need pain to release my bottled up emotions, but it works the best out of everything either one of us has tried and also helps me keep my temper."

"Whatever works," Aaron agreed. "If this is what works for you then that's just fine with me, though I'm sure we could find some other ways for you to release your pent up emotion if we tried."

"I don't know why we would bother, since this works so well," Harper said. "If this ever stops working then maybe we'll have to worry about finding something else that works."

Aaron disappeared temporarily to get the whip requested and returned in only a couple of minutes.

"Will this do?" Aaron asked holding the whip up to Harper's eyes.

"That's perfect," Harper said.

"Let's get started then," Aaron said eagerly. "After this, you can do me as I have a lot of tension to you know, though I admit doing this for you does help me release some of it."

"Sounds just fine," Harper said before she immediately felt the whip on her back as hard as Aaron could do so.

Harper cried out in pain, but since it was exactly what she wanted she didn't say her safe word. In fact, she encouraged him, "Again! As hard as you can. I can feel the tension just leaking out of me like a sieve."

Aaron did as ordered and struck Harper several times as hard as he could on the back, the butt and even the thighs with the different tails of the whip. Several cuts and abrasions started to appear, but Aaron didn't worry about those knowing they would heal quickly.

Harper continued to cry out in pain, but didn't say her safe word until she was sure that every bit of stress, tension and worry had drained from her body.

"Purple," Harper finally said.

"Finally had enough?" Aaron asked with a smile, studying his mate's back, thighs and buttocks that were covered with abrasions and open cuts that were leaking blood, but Aaron also saw how they were healing rapidly and all of them would be gone in just a few minutes.

"For now," Harper said.

"How do you feel?" Aaron asked.

"Completely boneless," Harper decided. "Like all the worry, tension and stress has completely disappeared."

"Good that's how you should feel," Aaron said satisfied. "Once you've recovered you can do me."

"Something I will take great pleasure in doing," Harper grinned a little tiredly, "but only because I know you enjoy it as much as I do."

"Most people would call us insane, you know," Aaron mentioned with an unreadable expression and in a neutral tone.

"They would want to put both of us in a mental institution," Harper said smiling.

"They would have to do that to thousands of people then, because BDSM is a very widely used collection of techniques," Aaron pointed out grinning. "Sometimes pain is a great way to release your negative feelings that you feel you can't do on your own, not without doing yourself some serious damage. Yes, I know that some of these techniques could cause a person serious damage if you're not careful, but I never go farther than you want me to and am always careful not to do you any permanent damage."

"As am I," Harper agreed. "I think so long as there's trust between all the parties involved, whether that's long time associates or friends or somebody you've just met, that people should be able to do what they want so long as they don't go beyond the limits that have been set by everyone. I didn't bother to set any limits with you, because I knew you would listen to me when I wanted you to stop, but for most normal couples unless you've been together for many years..."

"It's a good idea to have a contract of what's acceptable just in case," Aaron agreed. "I agree with you and so do tens of thousands of other people, and the police can't put anybody in jail just because they think they have machoism/sadism tendencies."

"Not unless it's a very serious case of somebody going way overboard whether that was by accident or design," Harper agreed. "For a lot of people it's a way to release tension and stress, so that they don't hurt somebody on accident just because they're wound so tight."

"Thank God for freedom of expression," Aaron added grinning.

"I agree with that, totally," Harper said smiling. "People are free to do basically, anything they want so long as they don't somehow come to the attention of the authorities. What we are doing is not hurting anyone except ourselves and its with mutual consent."

"So there's nothing anyone can do," Aaron said.

"Exactly," Harper agreed. "Self-harm might seem weird to some people, but there sure are a ton of people with the same ideas."

"So how are you feeling now?" Aaron asked, as he released her from restraints. "Restraints unlock."

"Still tired, but okay," Harper said. "I know I'll sleep well tonight though. See my back, butt and thighs are all healed."

Aaron examined them and nodded as all he saw were streaks of blood that could be easily washed off. "One thing I appreciate about our Immortality is we heal fast."

"I believe we've said that multiple times over the centuries," Harper grinned. "Still, it's no less true today than it was back then."

"At least we won't have to do one of these sessions, for a few weeks anyway," Aaron said.

One of the sessions like they had just finished they didn't have to do all that often, although they did other things that were part of the BDSM scene. They still did spanking sessions frequently, when only a little pain was wanted.

They also used butt plugs and cock rings fairly often. Aaron remembered going to work more than once with the butt plug up his anus. He had also had worn a male version of the chastity belt to stop him from getting an erection and since there was a mechanism to where he could still pee he never needed to take it off until his mate had ordered him to. He had worn one for a full week once, to get him supposedly in the mood and the sex had been some of the best ever, Aaron remembered. That had been an exercise in frustration, not being able to have sex with his mate for seven full days and nights, but they had done it several times over the last three centuries. They never went past the point of doing each other permanent harm.

"No, but that doesn't mean we can't have some fun," Harper said. "We can still do a lot of things we just won't do any of the heavy stuff that was done today."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Aaron agreed, smiling. "There have been plenty of times over the last three centuries that we just did some spanking and maybe a little bondage. Sessions like we just finished are not needed more than every few weeks to release the tension."

"Those sessions certainly help me keep my temper and act rationally," Harper agreed. "I can act much more calmly if tension isn't all curled up inside me like a coiled spring."

"I never had trouble keeping my temper, but I have to admit ,it does help it drain," Aaron said. "I certainly feel better, more relaxed than I did before the two of us met."

"What about those other women that you did some of this stuff too before we met?" Harper asked.

"That helped a little, but I never had any of those woman do anything to me, just me to them because I didn't trust them fully," Aaron explained. "I knew from the beginning that I could trust you a 110%, so I never worried about you going to far or doing anything I was uncomfortable with."

"I suppose I'm grateful that I'm the only one that's been allowed to do things to you like that," Harper said slowly. "That I'm the only one you've trusted enough to allow me full access to your body and not just to have sex, though that's always spectacular."

"I certainly didn't have as many toys back in those days, just things that were relatively safe to use," said Aaron. "I mean we have a large collection of whips, riding crops and floggers, in every possible length, in every possible material. We have a collection of butt plugs, cock rings and other things to make our sex life even better. We even both have chastity belts that we sometimes use."

"Yeah, we haven't used those in awhile," Harper said.

"I still remember the first time you made me wear one for a week," Aaron grinned in fond remembrance. "That was pure torture, but the sex afterwards..."

"Was the best we'd had to date," Harper remembered smiling.

"I got my revenge by making you wear yours for a week after that," Aaron grinned.

"Yeah, that was torture," Harper remembered. "We've done it a few times since, though not in the last 60 or 70 years."

"We should probably try that again at some point," Aaron suggested.

"Not until after we find our mate, as I have a feeling that the event is close, and neither one of us wants to jump him just because we're so desperate," Harper said and Aaron nodded.

"It'll probably be at least a few years before we can try that again depending on what our mate is like, but believe me I'm not going to forget," Aaron warned her.

"I don't expect you to," Harper promised. "I might just be the one to remind you."

"Maybe you will be," Aaron smiled, as he kissed Harper tenderly. "So about that session."

"Why don't you position yourself on the frame then," Harper suggested. "I'm ready when you are."

Aaron did so and soon he was situated.

"How much pain do you want?" Harper asked.

"Let's start out with the flogger and then we'll see," Aaron requested and Harper nodded.

Harper picked up the flogger from the special compartment that Aaron had built inside the closet and returned just a few seconds later.

"How hard do you want me to hit you?" Harper asked.

"As hard as you can, sweetheart," Aaron said.

Aaron was well aware that his mate was far stronger than she looked, as they had exercise equipment in one of the guest rooms and turned it into kind of a mini gym, with all the latest equipment. Luckily, the room had been quite large.

"As you wish," Harper agreed, and started using the 50 tails of the flogger to hit Aaron as hard as possible, varying the strength and speed as much as she could. The tails of the flogger were made out of rubber and leather, alternating one and the other, which meant that Aaron's back buttocks and thighs were getting a real workout.

Aaron bit his lip to try to prevent himself from crying out, due mostly to manly pride, but after a few minutes he couldn't help whimpering, then let out a genuine yell of pain when Harper hit a particularly sensitive spot.

"Want to take a break?" Harper asked without pausing.

"No, you're doing a good job," Aaron said. "I can feel the tension draining away."

Harper kept doing as requested but finally, Aaron said. "Blue."

"Had enough?" Harper asked stopping immediately.

"For now," Aaron said. "Now why don't you release me and we can get a shower together before we head to bed."

"I'm looking forward to it," Harper grinned. "The lovemaking after the session like this is always at least 20% better, then normal."

"I know," Aaron grinned right back. "Believe me, I'm looking forward to it too. Where I can have my way with you."

"That is so corny," Harper laughed.

"True though," Aaron said, smiling.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Harper agreed, as she released Aaron from the restraints of the St. Andrew's cross.

"Well, there's no point of getting dressed since we are heading for the shower anyway," Aaron laughed, as he stood up once he was sure his legs would support him.

"No, there's really not, as we're alone in our own house no children to worry about and no nosy neighbors to hear us or to spy on us considering we're on the second floor," Harper said.

"They couldn't spy on us anyway thanks to self-darkening glass, but still I understand what you mean," Aaron agreed.

They chuckled to themselves knowing that some of the neighbors could be incredibly nosy, but they meant well really. They were just curious about the couple that kept basically to themselves, though they were always friendly whenever they encountered someone, they just didn't reveal much about themselves, which of course made people really curious.

The two of them walked into the attached bathroom that was part of the bedroom suite and enjoyed a long luxurious shower before they finally went to bed to have several rounds of lovemaking before they finally lifted off to sleep contentedly.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

"We're going to meet our mate, today," Harper told Aaron one day about three weeks after their lengthy BDSM session.

"Vision?" Aaron asked immediately and Harper nodded.

"It was just a quick one, but I saw enough to know that we'll meet him in the largest independent bookstore in the area," Harper said.

"The Moonlight Bookshop," Aaron said confidently.

"That's the one," Harper agreed

"Now or later?" Aaron asked next.

"We better go now," Harper said, "just in case you know. I'm pretty sure we have at least a couple of hours, but I'm not positive."

"Well, it'll take us at least half an hour to drive there anyway," Aaron said, "and I probably do need some new reading material."

"Oh, what a coincidence, so do I," Harper grinned.

She and Aaron grinned conspiratorially at each other. Their words were not a complete lie, as both of them were avid readers and if their mate was the same way then that was one way that they were very similar, though not necessarily the same depending on if they liked the same type of books.

"I've been meaning to pick up a couple of new books from my favorite authors anyway," Harper said.

"I'm sure that your mother can probably loan them to you since she likes the same kind of books," Aaron suggested, knowing exactly how his mate would react to that statement and he was not disappointed.

"Oh, no, I have to have my own so I don't have to return them," Harper protested.

"You just want to go and explore one of the largest bookshops in the city," Aaron accused her playfully.

"It is the largest bookshop," Harper protested.

"The largest independent bookshop certainly," Aaron agreed. "But it's nothing to ones that are chains."

"They've only been open a few years and I think they're doing pretty well for themselves," said Harper. "Who knows what they'll be able to do in say 10 years."

That was true, Aaron acknowledged silently. "We had better get going if we don't want to miss meeting our mate."

Harper shot him a look, but said nothing knowing that this was Aaron's way of acknowledging that she was right, without actually saying the words.

The two of them got ready hurriedly and at the last minute Harper asked Brooke if she wanted to accompany them.

"You can get yourself some new reading material," Harper suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Brooke agreed. "Besides, I want to meet this guy that's your mate too."

"If you go your going to just have to try to stay out of the way," Aaron said, gently. "This is just the first introduction and we don't want to scare him away so two people approaching him is more than enough this first time."

"Besides, I only saw Aaron and myself, plus this man in my vision," Harper told Brooke who looked disappointed. "Really, it was only a minute, but I saw enough to know that you weren't there."

"You might've been somewhere in the store, but you weren't with us," Aaron said and Brooke nodded.

"I understand, I wouldn't want to wreck your first introduction, since he's very likely mortal," Brooke said.

"No, that would be a bad thing, as we'd have even more trouble getting to know him," Aaron said.

"Or at least that's a likely possibility," Harper added. "We just don't want to chance it."

"We promise to introduce you the minute we think we can," Aaron added.

"I understand," Brooke promised

"Okay then, you can come with us," Harper said after looking at Aaron, who nodded.

Aaron knew that Brooke wouldn't mess up this meeting with their mate to be malicious, as she was aware how important it was, so he didn't mind if she came along.

"Do you have any idea when you going to meet your mate?" Harper asked her sister. "I know you're pretty lonely despite me and Aaron spending as much time with you as we can."

"Yeah, I didn't want to say anything, but I've had a feeling that it's really close," Brooke admitted. "I have not had any visions though. I wonder why?"

"I don't know," Harper admitted. "Both of us got the talent, but I seem to be more receptive I guess is the word."

"I have had my share of visions over the years," Brooke pointed out and Harper nodded.

"Yeah, you have," Harper agreed. "I don't know why you haven't had a vision of finding your mate considering I've had a couple about finding Aaron's and mine. You feel as if your mate is close and that's probably your sixth sense telling you so. I have no doubt that my vision was sent by the gods, Ilithyia in particular."

"Maybe she's causing my sixth sense, to tell me that my mate is close," Brooke speculated looking hopeful.

"That's certainly possible," Aaron said speaking up. "I hope that is true too, because I know you've been lonely for a long time now."

"I do appreciate you letting me live with you two, but I've been wanting to find my mate for decades at least," Brooke admitted.

"I can't blame you," Aaron told Brooke sympathetically. "I waited a very long time to meet mine and Harper was lucky that she had only reached full maturity, and had just stopped aging when we met."

"Well, technically, we met the day after my birthday but I actually discovered you on my birthday, which was pretty special," Harper said smiling. She remembered how nervous she had been once she had realized the very handsome man at a table close to where her family was sitting contained her mate. "It's certainly one of my happiest memories."

"If you're feeling is right, you'll meet your mate soon," Aaron said.

Brooke didn't you say so, but she felt she needed to go to the bookstore with her sister and her mate and she wasn't exactly sure why that was. She suspected however, that she would meet her mate there as well and if she did it would probably be a first, the first time that two Immortals had found their mates at basically, the same time and place, Immortals that were sisters no less.

"We had better get going," Aaron said.

"Yeah, we had," Harper agreed. "Ready to go?" Harper asked her sister who nodded.

"I'll take my own car, just in case you Aaron and your other mate want to go somewhere to talk privately," Brooke said.

"That's probably a smart idea," Aaron said.

"I only hope that our mate isn't married or at least engaged," Harper said.

"That would be awful," Brooke said.

"Yeah, it would be," Aaron said. "There's no point of worrying about it though, until we know."

"I'll certainly try, but I've been worried about it ever since I knew the time was approaching for us to meet," Harper said.

"I can't really blame you for worrying about that," Brooke admitted. "I certainly hope that my mate doesn't even have a serious girlfriend, much less a couple of kids and a wife."

The two sisters shared a look of mutual understanding before they headed outside to their separate vehicles.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"This is where we're supposed to meet him," Harper said quietly, as she approached the coffeeshop that was attached to the Moonlight Bookshop. Aaron looked at the name and thought it was rather unique one for a coffeeshop. Whitney's Coffee and Café, was the name of the coffeeshop. Aaron had never had a cup of coffee or anything from here, even though he had been to the bookstore with Harper several times. Still, while he liked coffee he wasn't as crazy about it as some people, not even those fancy drinks that had been invented in the 20th Century lattes, shooters and shots, just to name a few. You could get drinks with chocolate, with almonds, with vanilla, with caramel and a lot of other things besides. It was certainly a lucrative business, as a lot of people loved their fancy coffee, as the coffeeshops all over the city not to mention the world ought to prove.

"Why don't we get us a coffee and a snack and sit at one of the tables," Aaron suggested calmly. "You're the one that's going to recognize him so you need to be alert."

Harper nodded knowing Aaron was right, because she was the one that had seen their mate in her mind. She had described him, but the description was rather general, so really Harper was the only one that could identify him immediately.

There was no sign of Brooke, but then she had came in her own car, so she was somewhere in the bookstore Harper was sure. She was taking her promise to stay out of the way seriously and Harper was grateful.

Both of them stood in line, ordered their coffee and a snack as soon as they were at the register.

"Over here," Aaron suggested quietly gesturing at one of the only clear tables at the large but popular coffeeshop.

Harper nodded and went to sit at the table before anyone else could snatch it, as there was still quite a long line.

Harper remained alert, as she chatted with Aaron making sure she examined every customer that came into Whitney's.

"There," Harper said finally, but quietly, pointing discretely, trying not to jump up in excitement.

Aaron studied the man that had just come in to Whitney's and saw him stand patiently in line. Once he was at the register his order was already ready and Aaron took that to mean that he was well known at this coffeeshop. Their mate apparently ordered the same thing every time he came in, which said he was a creature of habit at least in that way.

The handsome man handed over the money and the lady shook her head indicating that his money was no good here. The man looked stubborn Aaron noticed holding back a chuckle and finally the woman accepted it with the obvious reluctance.

"What do you figure is going on?" Harper asked having observed the scene.

"I don't know," Aaron admitted then paused as he studied the pair, "but they do look kind of alike, so they're probably siblings or at least close cousins."

"You're right, they do look similar in many ways, not that that necessarily means anything," said Harper.

"Same color hair, same color eyes, same jawline, cheeks and nose," Aaron said.

"They're both tall and slender, so they're basically the same body shape," Harper added. "I believe you might be right they're probably siblings, which is probably why the woman tried to refuse his payment and our mate insisted."

"So it's likely he doesn't want her to feel cheated or is honest enough to pay for a cup of coffee, even in a coffeeshop his sister owns."

"Or cousin," Aaron felt like pointing out.

Harper shot Aaron a look, but said nothing as she continued to study the man that was their mate.

"How do you think we should approach him?" Aaron asked quietly.

"We accidentally bump into him as he's leaving," Harper explained quietly and Aaron nodded. "That's about all I saw, so we'll have to wing it from there."

"I believe we can manage that," Aaron said. "You know it's a good thing that group marriages are so common nowadays."

"So he likely won't be against it, like he would've been if he'd been born a few hundred years ago," Harper realized.

"Exactly," Aaron agreed. "Of course, some people are still against it, but they're welcome to marry only once, if that's what they want, but not everybody's the same thank goodness."

"Some people will be against anything they consider strange or weird as they're offended easily," Harper shrugged not really caring. "Group marriages have been around for so long now though, so it's not likely to be abolished anytime soon."

"Or ever," Aaron said.

Harper didn't respond, but she totally agreed with her husband on that one.

"Personally, I believe in live and let live, so long as nobody shoves their beliefs in my face," said Harper quietly.

Aaron nodded totally agreeing with that statement.

"Looks like he's getting ready to leave," Aaron said quietly, as he unobtrusively observed the man that was their mate, likely their final one.

"We had better intercept him," Harper said.

Aaron and Harper rose from the table they were sitting and threw their plates and cups away, before they casually strode towards another entrance of the coffeeshop and headed towards the one their mate was going confidently threading his way through the crowded tables.

Aaron and Harper arrived, just as there mate got to the entrance and deliberately bumped him lightly immediately apologizing.

"We are so sorry," Harper immediately apologized.

"Yes, we were heading over to the sci-fi section and didn't see you," Aaron said. "We sincerely apologize for just running into you."

"It's alright, it was an accident," the man said. "I'm Spencer Reid at your service."

"Aaron and Harper Hotchner," Aaron introduced. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Is there anyway we can apologize for bumping into you?" Harper asked with a winning smile.

"Oh no, there's no need to as it was an accident," Spencer protested not being able to stop himself from blushing because Harper Hotchner was a beautiful woman who looked around his age. Unfortunately, like so many beautiful women she was already taken. "I didn't spill my coffee or anything, even if it was a close thing."

"Good thing as coffee can be hard to get out of clothes," Aaron said smiling in a friendly way.

"That's true unfortunately," Spencer said. "I was heading for the sci-fi/fantasy session myself, so why don't I just join you?"

"You'd be welcome to," Harper said. "Aaron and I can always use more friends as we really don't have that many."

"We know a lot of people, but we're really not close to most of them," Aaron explained with a shrug. Aaron didn't say that they weren't close to most people, because they couldn't be trusted. They had been close to mortals before and they were sure they would be again, but right now that wasn't true. Both Aaron and Harper were good at reading somebody's intentions just from a few minutes of conversation, but they had centuries of practice just like most Immortals had. The way somebody responded to specific conversation topics told you a lot about someone.

"Well, seems I am similar in that way at least," Spencer said, smiling.

The three of them chatted casually, as they headed for the sci-fi/fantasy section of the bookstore.

The three of them explored the section together and Harper picked up several books she had been wanting to read for awhile.

"Stephen Lockley, great author," Spencer said.

"Yeah, I know I've read all his books," Harper admitted. "I just love him and I've been meaning to read his new book for awhile."

"But life gets so busy it's rather difficult to keep up sometimes," Spencer sympathized.

"Absolutely," Aaron agreed.

"I could've read him off a e-book reader I know, but there's just something about holding the book in my hands, flipping the pages, smelling the paper," Harper said.

"My mother would agree with you," Spencer said smiling, "and so do I."

"So you inherited your love of books from your mother?" asked Aaron smiling.

"Yeah, I did," Spencer said smiling in fond remembrance. "But then so did most of my siblings."

"So how many siblings do you have?" Harper asked genuinely interested.

"Quite a few, certainly more than most people have nowadays," Spencer grinned. "I have seven siblings if you must know."

"That is a lot," Aaron agreed. "But so long as your parents agreed to have that many and have the money to support them, then it doesn't matter what other people think. Harper and I have been wanting a family for several years already but it just hasn't happened to us unfortunately."

Aaron didn't mention the reason it hadn't happened yet, as that kind of information was for much later after Spencer learned that they were Immortal.

"That happens a lot," Spencer said looking rather sad for them both noticed. "You still have plenty of time though, because you don't look any older than I do and I'm 35."

"Yeah, we still have some time to have a family," Harper agreed. "It will either happen or it won't, though I'm hoping that Aaron and I do have at least one son or daughter. It's also possible I can have twins as they run in my family."

"Yeah, she has a twin sister named Brooklynn," Aaron said. "Really, they don't look a thing alike other than general features. You can tell that they're siblings, but not that they're twins unless they tell you."

"That happens all the time," Spencer said smiling. "I have a pair of twin sisters myself, except identical, my youngest siblings who are now in their early 20s."

"Well, that's pretty amazing coincidence," Harper said in genuine amazement.

"Not as amazing as you think, because multiples are much more common nowadays, due to a lot of women getting pregnant even in their 50s," Spencer said

"Yes, that's true," Aaron admitted. "Still, it's pretty amazing that we met someone who also has a twins in their family."

"Brooke and I are pretty close, as I'm sure you can imagine and in fact she's living with Aaron and I and we really don't mind, as she stays out of the way when we want privacy," Harper said.

"Well, I won't say it's unusual for siblings to live together," Spencer musing, "though maybe it is considering that you're married."

"She didn't stay with us for the first few years," Harper explained. "But after that we didn't mind so much."

"She knows how to make herself scarce when necessary," Aaron said. "She may love her family, but she doesn't need to see them getting all lovey-dovey with each other."

"That's the truth," Harper laughed. "Still, I love her to death, you know? We grew up together, got into mischief together, went to school together and even went to the same college together, though we got different degrees. We even shared an apartment."

"I feel the same way about my siblings," Spencer said with a nod, smiling a little. "Twins often share a mental connection, which is one reason they're so close and the fact, that they share a womb together is probably another, though there's certainly no scientific evidence to support that."

"So would you care to join us for a late lunch?" Aaron asked causally.

"Oh, no, I couldn't impose," Spencer started to protest.

"It's no imposition," Harper told him gently, putting a gentle hand on his bare arm and watched as her mate blushed, but didn't pull away. "We've certainly enjoyed talking to you and we'd like to continue that conversation over lunch."

"Unless you have a job you absolutely have to get back to you're certainly welcome to join us," Aaron said.

Spencer blushed at Harper's gentle, but persistent touch and agreed to go to lunch without having to think about it very much.

"Good, we can take your car or we can take ours," Harper said.

"We can take yours, because I walked, as my business is only a few blocks from here," Spencer said. "Just let me go tell my sister that I'll be having lunch with you at..."

"What about Jose? Unless you don't like Mexican," Aaron suggested.

"Sounds fine," Spencer said smiling relaxing, as Jose was one of his favorite places and he knew the menu by heart. "I love Mexican and Jose is one of my favorite places to eat lunch."

"It's ours too," Harper said. "Whenever we are in this area we usually go to Jose."

"So your sister works here?" Aaron asked casually, already knowing the answer, but it kept the conversation flowing smoothly.

"She owns the coffeeshop," Spencer explained smiling.

"Oh, so she's the Whitney in the name," Harper said.

"Yeah, she is the second sibling while I'm the first," Spencer said.

"Anymore surprises for us?" Aaron asked, smiling to let Spencer know he was just teasing.

"Well, my brother owns the bookstore," Spencer said. "He plans on expanding in a few years."

"So what's your brother's name?" Harper asked.

"Jeremy," Spencer answered, "and before you ask he's right after my sister Whitney. We are all about two years apart more or less, except for my twin sisters Nyssa and Narissa."

"You are so lucky to have so many siblings," Harper said a little enviously. "Brooke and I always wished for at least one brother while we were growing up, but it just never happened."

"At least you had your sister," Aaron pointed out calmly. "I was an only child."

What Aaron didn't say was that he had plenty of siblings, but they were just so far apart in age that it didn't really matter, as there was no sibling connection, so basically, he had spoken the truth.

"I can't imagine that," Spencer said making a face.

"It happens that way sometimes," Harper said. "Some women just don't get pregnant as easily as others do or it's possible that's all our parents wanted."

"That's possible to," Spencer said. "Of course, they genuinely might have had trouble conceiving."

"Which apparently wasn't true for your mother," Harper commented in an envious tone

"I'll just go tell my sister that I'll be back after lunch," Spencer said.

"We'll wait for you at the entrance," Aaron said

"Sounds just fine," Spencer said smiling, as he headed back in the direction of the coffeeshop to talk to his sister.

"Well, everything is going well so far," Harper said looking hopeful.

"So far," Aaron repeating the last two words, as he watched Spencer talk to the woman behind the counter.

"We had better go before Spencer sees us standing here observing him," Harper said.

"Yeah, we should," Aaron agreed.

The two purchased their books and then headed for the front entrance to wait for their mate to finish his conversation with his sister.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	13. Chapter 13

Part 13

Aaron, Harper and Spencer

"So you have a brother that owns one of the best independent bookstores in Las Vegas," Harper said as soon as they was seated at Jose.

"Yeah, I do," Spencer said, smiling. "It's been his dream, ever since he was a child as, he's the brother that loves books as much as I do. I was able to help him get started, because I'm the oldest and because I have a business of my own that's doing very well. Mom and dad helped to of course, since it's so expensive to start up a new business."

"It's good that he didn't have to get a loan from a bank as those types of things could go very wrong if the business fails," Aaron said.

"That's not likely to happen to Jeremy, as he took several business courses and got his degree," Spencer said. "He's also very intelligent and could probably have opened a business, even without a degree, as he just has that knack."

"Still, in this century having a degree will only help him in the long run," Harper said.

"I know and I happen to agree," Spencer said smiling, as he ordered his favorite meal as soon as the waiter appeared with their drinks. "Both mom and dad kind of insisted that he get a business degree if he wanted them to loan him any money."

"I bet they insisted the same for you and the rest to your siblings," Aaron said and Spencer nodded.

"Except for Nyssa and Narissa, because they didn't want to start up businesses of their own," Spencer said.

"So what careers did they choose?" asked Harper.

"Well, dad wanted his children to be lawyers of some type, but none of us were interested, except for Narissa that is. She's just getting started as an attorney, but so far she's doing well. I have no doubt that she'll be successful, as she has the intelligence, the drive and determination and the right mindset to be a great lawyer."

"What about Nyssa?" Aaron asked.

"She always wanted to be a pediatrician, as she's very good with children, so she got her degree and is well on her way," Spencer said.

"So why don't you tell me some more about yourselves," Spencer suggested.

"What do you want to know?" Harper asked, as she took a sip of her drink.

"Well, what about are your parents still alive?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, they are," Harper said. "Their names are Dave and Penelope Rossi and they were the best parents you could wish for. Also just so you know my dad is involved in one of those multiple marriage deals, so Brooke and I have two loving aunts as well named Emily and Jennifer."

"Well, that's not at all unusual in this day and age," Spencer said.

"No, it's not," agreed Aaron quietly.

"So no brothers and sisters from your two aunts?" Spencer asked and Harper shook her head looking regretful.

"I'm not exactly sure why though," Harper said being entirely truthful.

She still didn't really understand her parents decision to stop having children like they had. At least they could've had a couple more, after she and Brooke had been born so that they could have grown up with them, was that too much to ask?

"There could've been some kind of medical problems, like infertility," Spencer suggested.

"I could understand that about one of them, but not for both," Harper denied. "The likelihood of both of them not being to produce children are astronomical, especially in this day and age where most medical problems, those dealing with pregnancy anyway can be corrected. I won't say that infertility doesn't still exist, just that it's very rare now."

"Yes, I understand and agree. It's possible that one of your aunts couldn't have children for some reason but the odds of both of them not being able to bear children are unlikely at the very least," Spencer said, "so, that's a good point."

Of course, Harper was well aware of why she and her sister didn't have any other siblings at least not ones that weren't decades older than them, but she couldn't tell Spencer that right now, so she tried her best to still be truthful without revealing everything.

"In any case, at least I had Brooke, you know? So I was still incredibly lucky," Harper said.

"But you still would've liked some brothers at least," Aaron who had been mostly silent suggested.

"Oh, definitely," Harper smiled, as she kissed Aaron's cheek. "That's just not the way it worked out."

"I can definitely sympathize since I'm an only child, as I told you earlier," Aaron smiled.

Spencer watched the interaction between his two new friends and knew that they were deeply in love with each other. Now, if he could only find someone for himself.

He couldn't help but find Harper Hotchner attractive, but he knew it was unlikely that they would want another partner and he had never considered getting involved with more than one person anyway. Not that he was against multiple marriages or anything, because he wasn't and in fact, he thought it would be great to come home to several people you knew loved you despite your faults and particularities every day. He thought he had loved Maeve Donovan in that way, but he had eventually realized that while he was very fond of her and they would always be friends he didn't really love her.

He could easily fall in love with Harper Hotchner without half trying though, as she was a beautiful person and not just on the outside, but on the inside too. He had met plenty of women that might've been beautiful on the outside, but on the inside they were selfish uncaring, greedy and manipulative. It was clear that she adored her husband and that her husband adored her, so Spencer didn't see their marriage heading for divorce, like so many did, unless something major changed. His parents were still married to each other, but there had been plenty of arguments when he had been growing up. However, most of then had been behind closed doors.

Some people though, were able to love more than one person and the others in the relationship didn't get jealous. This had been a phenomenon throughout history, but it hadn't been legal, except among Muslims until a few hundred years ago.

"So same question for you," Spencer told Aaron who nodded.

"Yes, my parents are still around, but I don't see them much," Aaron said. "They like to travel."

"I've met them of course and they were wonderful. They were at our wedding very happy that their son had found someone to love," Harper said.

"At least your parents seem to want their children's happiness as I've known parents who don't care or don't seem to anyway," Spencer said.

"That, unfortunately, happens far too often," Aaron said.

"So any children of your own?" Harper asked Spencer in a teasing tone.

Spencer blushed at what the comment implied, but answered honestly. "No I'm afraid not. I dated this geneticist for awhile and I felt that I loved her, but I figured out that I was just fascinated with her mind and that stopped me from proposing. We remained friends, but we're not a couple anymore. We both just realized that we were better off as friends."

"There's nothing wrong with that," Aaron said.

"Staying friends with an old girlfriend is pretty rare," Harper added.

"Yeah, I know," Spencer said, smiling a little, as he thought of Maeve.

"It says a lot that you managed to stay friends," Aaron said.

"I suppose," Spencer said noncommittally.

The three chatted, as they ate their meal really enjoying each other's company.

"Well, I certainly enjoyed myself," Spencer said. "I've enjoyed myself more than I have in a long time."

"You didn't enjoy any of your dates with Maeve?" Harper asked teasingly.

"I did, just not in the same way," Spencer explained. "It's hard to explain really. Maeve is a very intelligent lady and is kind to the bone I won't deny it, but besides, being interested in science... She's somebody I can talk over science subjects with, but beyond that..."

"You didn't have a thing in common," Aaron suggested.

"That's it," Spencer agreed. "I just feel more relaxed around you and have been able to carry on a conversation about different subjects. Maeve, didn't like the same books, the same music, the same vids, or most of the same activities and I found out just recently that she doesn't even want children, well maybe one, but that would be it. As for me I do want children someday, at least three or four if possible."

"Sounds like it you were polar opposites or nearly anyway," Harper said.

"Just about," Spencer said. "Still, she's a great friend. We are just not couple material that's all."

"Be glad you found that out before you tied the knot," Aaron said.

"Yeah, I am, but my parents, my mother in particular, have been urging me to find someone to settle down with for several years and it's not like I haven't tried," Spencer said.

"She just wants grandchildren out of her oldest son," Harper suggested smiling.

"Believe me, I know," Spencer said smiling. "She wants grandchildren out of all her children and only a couple of them are married."

"So which of your siblings are married?" Harper asked.

"Whitney and Flint who is my baby brother," Spencer answered immediately. "Flint's only been married a couple of years, right after he graduated college, so no children yet, but Whitney has two little girls different ages named Gabriella and Kali.

"Well, at least your mom has a couple of grandchildren," Harper said smiling thinking that she would love to meet those two little girls since it would be awhile before she could have anymore children of all of her own. About 5 years give or take.

"And she loves spending time with them, but she's really hoping for more of them before she gets too old to really pay them the attention they deserve," Spencer said. "At least that's what she told me when she was urging me to find a woman and settle down."

"Your mom can't be more than in her late 60s at most, so she has plenty of time to enjoy her grandchildren," Aaron said.

"67," Spencer said impressed at Aaron calculations.

"It wasn't that difficult to estimate her age since you told us you're 35 and you're the oldest son," Aaron explained and Spencer nodded. "She could've been anywhere from 18 to 32 when she married and that means that she would've likely been 33 when you were born."

"She was 30 when she married and had me about two and a half years later," Spencer said. "After that, my siblings came along at about two year intervals."

"Which means she would've been about 49 when your twin sisters were born," Harper said.

"Exactly," Spencer agreed smiling. "Being the oldest I was around 16 when they were born, so I did my best to help in between schoolwork and things like chess club and math club. I loved them from the moment they were born, as they was so cute and adorable, how could I not? I wanted to help mom out as I knew she had a teaching position of her own and was already basically raising six kids. Whitney and Jeremy helped out as they were the oldest after me, 14 and 12 respectively."

"I bet your mom appreciated it," Aaron said.

"She did and gave me some spending money, that was separate from my allowance, as a reward for being such a big help," Spencer said nodding. "By the time I left for college just months after they were born I was totally smitten. I made sure I called frequently and talked to them and read to them over the link. Since I wasn't there Whitney started to help out just as I had been taken on what I considered my responsibilities. It wasn't that she hadn't helped out before, but mostly in small ways, because I was the one that could read really fast and finish my schoolwork in record time and she had her own studies."

"I bet you missed them," Aaron said and Spencer nodded.

"I did and it was hard to leave at 16, but I had finished my high school requirements a couple of years before and I just knew I was ready for college," Spencer said. "I came home as often as I could to spend time with my family, but I also had a heavy courseload."

"You finished your high school requirements at 14?" Harper asked in amazement.

"I have a very high IQ," Spencer shrugged, not liking to brag about his intelligence, "and an eidetic memory. I could've finished even earlier if mom hadn't insisted that I join some school clubs and not skip anymore grades then I already had. It gave me more time with all my siblings not just my baby sisters, so I didn't argue about it too much."

"Well, you sound like a good big brother," Aaron said smiling. "You know a lot of older children resent their younger siblings at least until after they're adults."

"Yeah, I've seen it happen where the older siblings like the pick on the younger ones mostly not in a malicious way, but that happens to unfortunately," Harper said.

"They also don't like to do chores or help out with their brothers or sisters without complaining about it, but it sounds like you were exactly the opposite," Aaron said smiling.

"A lot of older siblings resent the fact that their parents have another child or even several other children, I was never that way and neither was Whitney or Jeremy for that matter," Spencer said. "I knew from the time I was really small that my parents wanted a large family, so I think it would've been stupid to resent any of them considering I knew since the time I was four years old and Whitney was two."

"And thanks to your intelligence you understood better than other four year olds would have," Harper suggested.

"I also wasn't the attention grabbing kind like some children are. I knew I was loved and that was more than enough for me," Spencer said. "I knew that mom at least spent as much time with me as she could manage between her job and my younger siblings."

"I think your mother did exactly the right thing by giving you a kind of reward for helping out without being asked," Aaron said. "Perhaps, if more parents paid attention to their kids or at least appreciated when they went out of their way to help out without being asked then so many of them wouldn't grow up resenting or even hating their siblings or their family in general."

"Everybody likes to be appreciated," Harper agreed, "and it's almost as if please and thank you are cuss words nowadays, as so many people are so rude."

"And unfortunately, a lot of times a parent or even both of them will focus on one kid and ignore the others," Aaron said.

"Happens all the time," Spencer agreed. "It's just human nature I suppose to sometimes like someone more than someone else, even if that's your own kids."

"A lot of men for example long for a son and then get only daughters, which causes them to resent them," Aaron said.

"And then when a son is finally born they ignore their little girls in favor of their son, which only causes the daughters to resent their father and also their brother a lot of times," Harper added.

"It's just a vicious cycle," Spencer agreed. "Luckily, my mother at least wasn't like that, though I know it happens far too often."

The three of them sat and chatted even after their meals were finished but finally Spencer looked at his watch.

"I had better get going before Whitney sends in the cavalry," Spencer said.

"She wouldn't really do that would she?" Harper asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You don't know my sister if you believe that," Spencer snorted. "We are very close but we are only a couple years apart so that's understandable. I'm really enjoyed myself so thank you for inviting me."

"We need to do this again, as we really enjoyed your company," Harper suggested.

"We can at least exchange link numbers and email addresses," Aaron said.

"I would think you be tired of me by now," Spencer said staring at Harper and Aaron in amazement.

"Why?" Harper asked in genuine confusion.

"Because most people get tired of me talking so much and also knowing so many obscure facts," Spencer tried to explain. "Or they get tired of me talking about my family so much or for other reasons I won't go into."

"I don't know why, because you're rightfully proud of all of them," Aaron said. "I've known other people in the past that like to brag about their families and how proud of them they are, and you should know that it is a very common occurrence."

"But then a lot of people don't have close family connections, even if they have siblings," Harper suggested.

"You just haven't been meeting the right kind of people," Aaron said. "We can introduce you to people that are similar to ourselves that they'll talk about their own families and also be just as intelligent in different ways."

"I think you would enjoy meeting my mother for example and my father to, but mainly my mother, as she is really super intelligent, especially when it comes to electronics, computers in particular," Harper said. "My father is very intelligent to and is a writer by profession, though he's kind of semiretired. My dad is also a great cook and taught me and Brooke everything he knew."

"Harper is being modest, as she's really good on a computer to and inherited her mother's talent," Aaron said.

"Well, okay then," Spencer agreed not speaking what he was thinking and gave him his phone number and email address while Aaron and Harper did the same.

"You can contact us at any time and we expect you to," Aaron told him firmly. "Don't just lose them as soon as we leave."

"Now why would you think I would do that?" Spencer asked in surprise that Aaron had realized he was thinking of doing that very thing, mostly because he couldn't see how these two people could continue to be interested in him.

He was just too intelligent and to bookish according to some of his classmates anyway. He had been told this often enough that he believed it, even though mom had tried her best to encourage him. His mother had often told him that they were just jealous that he was so intelligent that he had skipped several grades and just because he wasn't as outgoing as most of his classmates did not make their statements fact. He was also very cautious about making friends, because he knew very well that a lot of people couldn't be trusted, especially teenagers who were jealous of you. Still, he did have some friends from the math and chess clubs he had attended while he had been in high school. It helped that the people in the club were as intelligent as he was, even if it was in different areas. He hadn't exactly made any close friends in high school or college, since he wasn't as outgoing as his brother Jeremy or even Flint. He had certainly gotten better in the last 10 years, but he still wasn't really a crowd person

He knew intellectually that none of the things that all those kids he had gone to school with had taunted him about were true, but that didn't mean that their words hadn't hurt. Kids and even adults were vulnerable to that kind of thing unless they were supremely confident in themselves and he hadn't been one of them that had been. He also knew very well that everybody was different and he had had some casual friends but nobody he had truly connected with. He still wished that he had gone to a special school, one for really intelligent kids, but his father had vetoed that idea, wanting him to go to the same high school that he had. Spencer was sure that his father didn't realize what kind of damage those kids that had more normal intelligence had caused to his psyche, nor would he ever reveal the damage they had done to his self-confidence.

"Because both Harper and I can tell that you're very cautious where relationships are concerned," Aaron explained calmly. "After all, you had to tell your sister where you were going so she could send the cavalry if you weren't back in a reasonable amount of time and that says a lot."

Spencer blushed, because Aaron was right. He'd had to tell someone where he was going because he wasn't at all confident that he could handle this situation on his own if it turned bad. Plus, he was well aware that Aaron and Harper could be criminals of some sort, but now, after talking to them, he didn't really think so. In fact, if he was at all suspicious, he would say that the two of them were slowly courting him, but he felt that was ridiculous and that he was mistaken, as surely they wouldn't want someone like him as part of their family.

One thing Spencer forgot or chose to ignore was that it took all kinds to make a world and not everyone was the same. Unfortunately, those taunts in high school, had really done his psyche a lot of damage.

"You likely thought that we might be some kind of criminals that wanted to use you for some nefarious purpose," Harper added grinning at Spencer who blushed even deeper this time, mostly because that was just what he had been thinking.

"Neither of us can blame you for your caution," Aaron added, thinking that Spencer's blushing was absolutely adorable and he knew that Harper would agree with him, without having to ask. Just because he wasn't going to get involved sexually with Spencer Reid didn't mean that the two of them wouldn't be close, like brothers, brothers who had the same woman and weren't jealous of each other. He wouldn't protest when Spencer and Harper spent time without him and he knew that once Spencer was Immortal he wouldn't object either when Harper and him spent time alone.

"But that shouldn't preclude you from getting to know other people and possibly forming a deeper connection, one of friendship or companionship," Harper added

"I admit that a lot of people are afraid to do that for one reason or another or just not able to do so for whatever reason, but you can't let that stop you from doing so," Aaron said.

Spencer remained silent, but knew that Aaron and Harper were right. The only really close friends he had were his own family, and although he had remained in contact with several people that didn't mean that he was really super close to them as he tended to keep them at arms length, just to avoid getting hurt emotionally.

Harper shot him her best puppy dog expression and Spencer caved immediately.

"Alright, I'll contact you," Spencer agreed. How could he say no to Harper's adorable pout?

Spencer didn't realize it yet, but he was already under Harper's spell, though he would soon.

"Good, make sure you keep your promise to contact us sometime in the next couple of days," Harper said. "If you didn't give us your correct link number or email address, well, I can find them, trust me on that."

"She can, so now that we know your name we can find you quite easily," Aaron said smiling.

"Why do you care so much?" Spencer asked genuinely puzzled.

"Because for one thing we'd like you as a friend at least," Harper said. "We don't have many of those and from the beginning you have connected with us. It's been a long time since someone has connected with either Aaron or I or both of us so easily."

"So many people are so shallow that it's impossible to form connection with them at least for us," Aaron said.

"Now there is something I agree with," Spencer laughed softly. "It's partly the reason I don't have very many friends myself. I have no patience or time for shallow people with very narrow areas of interest or who only care about themselves."

"So when you find someone with more depth to their personality you shouldn't've reject their offer of friendship out of hand like I'm guessing you were planning on doing."

"Alright, so that was my initial reaction," Spencer said blushing again. "I'm just so used to basically being alone, except for my family."

"I know how hard it is to break old habits," Aaron said not entirely unsympathetic.

"But you've got to at least try if you want to be truly happy," Harper said.

"We can't really blame you for being cautious of people, because so many of them would try to take advantage of you if you showed yourself as being vulnerable, but that shouldn't preclude you from letting yourself be happy," Aaron said

"I'll admit that some people fall in to the trap of never trusting anyone, except perhaps their own family and never get themselves out of that mindset, but usually that only happens if something major happened in their childhood that made them think that way," Harper said.

"Though some people just don't trust others, for what seems no reason," Aaron said.

"Alright fine, you've convinced me," Spencer said.

"Good, we expect to hear from you sometime in the next couple of days and if we don't we'll be showing up on your doorstep," Aaron warned him seriously, while Harper smiled at him, a smile that could have melted the hardest of hearts, much less his.

The three of them parted ways, but Spencer at least couldn't forget Aaron and Harper's words to him. Had he really become so jaded and suspicious of everyone's intentions that he was sabotaging his own chance at happiness? Could he really allow other kids words, ones that were likely said due to jealousy of his intelligence, affect him for the rest of his life? He had known at the time that those kids words were just a bunch of bull aimed at hurting him, because they were jealous of his intelligence and his drive to succeed, yet like an insidious bad seed they had buried themselves in his subconscious and because of his own doubts had found fertile ground to grow.

Harper and Aaron had been very blunt about pointing that out and while it had hurt in a way he was grateful. Those two sure did have a way of boosting his normal lack of self-confidence in his own self-worth and he was going to remain their friend for as long as they'd let him.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	14. Chapter 14

Part 14

Brooke and Jeremy

Brooke was looking in the mystery/thriller section, seeing if there was anything specifically that she wanted, as she thought about the fact that she had a very strong feeling that she was about to meet her mate, though of course, she didn't know specifically when. Still, the event felt close, very close actually, though she did wonder why she had not had a vision about it, as she had also gotten the talent to 'see' just like her sister Harper. The talent came from her mother's side of the family, even though she hadn't actually gotten the full talent to see the future. Brooke knew that quite a few of her full siblings had also gotten the talent, but not all of them. Her mother had had over 100 kids herself, just because she had twins every time while Emily and JJ accounted for the rest.

Brooke was so distracted reading titles and backs of books that she never noticed the handsome man with blond hair and brown eyes approach her.

Brooke turned around startled when she heard somebody walking up behind her and stared into the eyes of the most handsome man she had ever seen. His eyes were a very light brown she absently noticed, so light in fact that they could've been hazel, except that they didn't have flecks of green.

Brooke felt the connection to this handsome man immediately and she knew that she had finally met the man she had been waiting for.

"Are you alright miss?" The man asked and book came out of her daze.

"Yes, sorry, you startled me," Brooke immediately apologized. "I guess I was so distracted reading summaries that I didn't realize anybody was approaching."

"It's all right miss, I tend to get distracted to when I'm reading," the man said with a charming grin. "My name is Jeremy Reid."

"And I'm Brooklynn Rossi, but you can call me Brooke," Brooke answered with a heart melting grin, making Jeremy instantly smitten.

"I hope I'm not being too forward Miss Brooklynn, but would you like to have dinner with me, that is if you don't have a boyfriend or husband waiting for you," Jeremy asked, trying not to look anxious for the answer.

"I'd be happy to," Brooke agreed looking eager and Jeremy sighed silently in relief. He never had been very good at asking out a women much like his older brother Spencer actually, but he wasn't quite as bad as his brother. Somehow though, he had just known that he had to ask this beautiful woman out on a date and he wasn't exactly sure why he felt that way. He had just felt this instant connection to her, a connection he couldn't explain. Still, he had read enough fantasy to know that this connection was something very special, soulmates for the lack of better word. It wasn't that he believed in such things really, but he knew that such concepts as used in fantasy a lot of times had to come from somewhere. People did fall in love at first sight, even if it didn't happen often and that's definitely what he felt for this beautiful lady named Brooklynn Rossi. He couldn't explain, even to himself why he felt this way about a woman he hardly knew except for her name.

"Just let me contact my sister to let her know I won't be home for awhile and that's all that will need to be said," Brooke said.

"You live with your sister?" Jeremy asked.

"And her husband," Brooke said. "I could live in an apartment by myself, so it's not about money, but my sister Harper and I are twins and we're really close. I know how to stay out of the way when they want to be alone and I don't have to worry about having to listen to them making out considering the soundproofing in most buildings nowadays."

"That is an advantage," Jeremy agreed with an adorable grin.

"It is, and Harper and I still do plenty of activities together and just have some girl time," Brooke said.

"You sound like my sisters," Jeremy grinned.

"So how many siblings do you have?" Brooke asked.

"Quite a few," Jeremy said mysteriously. "Certainly more than most couples have today."

"So are you going to tell me or are you going to keep it to yourself," Brooke inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose there is no reason I shouldn't tell you," Jeremy admitted.

"So?" Brooke asked.

"Oh, don't be so impatient," Jeremy teased her lightheartedly and was delighted when Brooke laughed, which had been his goal. "I have seven if you must know and I am the third child and second son."

"Wow! You're right that's a lot," Brooke said appreciatively.

"My parents always wanted a large family and since my father is a very successful attorney and my mom teaches at Las Vegas University they could afford to have that many," Jeremy said.

"So what are you siblings names?" Brooke asked.

"Spencer is the oldest," Jeremy began. "He's 35 and runs a very successful business and in fact, he helped me get started."

"Get started?" Brooke asked curiously.

"Oh, didn't, you know?" Jeremy asked with the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I own this bookstore," Jeremy said gesturing at the rows of book.

"Wow! I had no idea," Brooke said looking around at the rows and rows of books. "I have always loved coming here ever since you opened several years ago. I had no idea who owned it though, as I never bothered to look up that information."

"I'm glad you do come here," Jeremy said, kissing the back of her hand like a gentleman, causing Brooke to flush a brilliant red in pleasure. "So any siblings besides the sister you mentioned?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Brooke said, even as she recovered, from being overcome by Jeremy's charm. "It's always just been my sister and me."

"At least you had Harper," Jeremy said and Brooke nodded in complete agreement.

"Yes, I always had my sister," Brooke agreed. "That's not to say I didn't wish for other siblings like a brother it just never happened that's all and I've accepted that."

"Well, I certainly have enough of them and I'm sure every single one of them will fall in love with you and be very happy that I'm actually dating," Jeremy said, grinning.

"So you never did tell me about the rest of your siblings as we kind of got sidetracked," Brooke mentioned.

"Well, Whitney is next, though we call her Whit and in fact she owns the coffeeshop that's attached to Moonlight Bookshop."

"I've had coffee from there, it's wonderful," Brooke sighed.

"I'll certainly tell her that you think so," Jeremy said with another adorable little grin. "She'll appreciate the compliment, trust me. After Whitney of course is me, then Pamela, although we mostly call her Pam. Then comes Jaiden, a boy just so you know, then Flint and finally Nyssa and Narissa, twin girls."

"Wow! That's really neat," Brooke said envious of Jeremy's large family.

"I'm glad you think so," Jeremy smiled and Brooke just melted as a dimple in his chin as well as the left corner of his mouth appeared.

"So where shall you be taking me to dinner?" Brooke asked. "I need to know so I can dress appropriately."

"What you're wearing is fine, as I'm not planning on taking you anywhere to fancy this time," Jeremy said smiling right into Brooke's eyes. "I thought we could go to Pam's restaurant that she started with help from mom and dad."

"So your sister owns a restaurant?" Brooke asked.

"Yep," Jeremy said with a slow easy grin. "She went to cooking school. She'll make a husband happy someday, as she's a wonderful cook. She learned a lot from mom but she learned a lot more just from experimenting with new recipes. I usually go there for lunch or dinner several times a week, as I just love the food they serve."

"So it's a casual type place then," Brooke suggested.

"Yes, it is, no candles on the table or low lighting," Jeremy said. "I hope that's okay with you."

"That's just fine, I actually prefer it, although I have been to fancy places before, mostly with my family," Brooke said smiling.

"Fancy restaurants really aren't places you go alone," Jeremy suggested.

"No, they are places you go for some kind of celebration with your family or a date," Brooke agreed.

"Or some type of business meeting, if you want to impress some bigwigs," Jeremy added grinning.

"That too," Brooke said. "Since I don't need to go get dressed up fancy I think I'll just hang around until you're done for the day. I can start reading some of these books I'm about to purchase."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Jeremy said smiling. "I just love to get lost in the good book as reading it off an e-book reader just isn't the same. I admit that reading something off an e-book reader is convenient if you're going on a trip or something, so you're not carrying a dozen books around."

"I agree with you and so would my sister and brother-in-law or my father for that matter," Brooke smiled. "There's just something about holding a book in your hands and turning the pages."

The two of them continued to chat for a few more minutes before Jeremy really had to leave, but not before they exchanged link numbers and email addresses.

Once Jeremy was gone Brooke found herself a chair and just plopped down into it, feeling as if she had been hit in the belly with a sledgehammer.

She couldn't wait to tell her sister about meeting her mate, but thought that it could wait until later, as she knew that she and her mate were likely very busy at the moment. She suspected that her sister and Aaron had met their mate by now as well and were likely busy getting to know him without revealing of course, what they were at least not yet.

Brooke had absolutely no way of knowing that her sister's and Aaron's mate was Jeremy's older brother Spencer, but she would certainly be shocked when she discovered it.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Back with Spencer

"So how did it go big brother?" Whitney asked immediately as soon as Spencer walked up to the counter of the coffee shop attached to Moonlight Bookshop.

"Let's at least get a table before you start interrogating me," Spencer protested.

"Alright," Whitney said giving him a break, only because there was still a long line of customers and because her brother didn't deserve to have his personal business spread around to total strangers. She had several employees that could take over for her for a few minutes.

"It went good," Spencer answered, as soon as the two of them had appropriated a table in the corner. "We had a really good meal and pleasant conversation."

"So are you going to see them again?" Whitney asked, after activating the privacy shield that was standard in most places unless it was really a dive, who tended to skimp on things like that. "Or are you just going to fob them off like you usually do to everybody who wants to be a friend or even a girlfriend."

Spencer flushed at his sister's words knowing that she was right.

"You know I'm right, even if you don't want to admit it," Whitney told him.

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious," Spencer protested already knowing that his sister would see through his excuse.

Whitney simply gave him a look and Spencer couldn't stare into her eyes for very long, for they were an intense shade of blue the same color as their mother's and it didn't help that she had the same stare. A stare that could make you feel as if you were five years old again and in trouble for something. That stare had only been directed his way a few times when he was growing up for getting into some sort of mischief, as he was usually the good, well behaved son. He had been so, so he could mostly avoid his father's notice. His father and him had never gotten along, as he had had certain ideas of what his son should turn out to be like and Spencer hadn't been interested in any of his father's expectations, which had put them at odds ever since he was young.

Spencer dropped his eyes to his hands that were clasped together on the table.

"There is a difference in being cautious of people who want to take advantage of you and in not really trying to make friends or find yourself a mate, whether that be man or woman," Whitney told him sternly.

"No, I'm not going to fob them off as Aaron at least caught onto the fact that I was thinking about doing that before we parted ways," Spencer said, as his cheeks reddened in remembered embarrassment. "He said that his wife Harper was very good on computers and that she could track me down very easily, simply because she knew my name. My first name is unusual enough that it wouldn't be too hard. I'm probably the only Spencer Reid in Las Vegas and the fact that I told him all my siblings names would make it incredibly easy to find me."

"Well, it seems like this Aaron is very intelligent and observant, which is something you need in any relationship you get involved in, someone who can carry on an intelligent conversation about various topics other than your own siblings," Whitney said approvingly. "Why you would turn down such an opportunity is beyond me. How often, do you find someone who's intelligent enough to keep up with you and interested in doing so."

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Spencer said quietly.

"Of course you haven't, as you let your fears of being maliciously bullied whether that's with words or physically overcome you. Yes, I know high school in particular was tough on you, but get over it and move on. You have to realize that you stood out due to your intelligence among more normal children who weren't so smart. I know you didn't mean to stand out, but you did," Whitney scolded him and Spencer listened quietly knowing that his sister was spot on. "I think that our father made the wrong decision about sending you to public high school, just because that's where he went, since your intelligence is way out of the ordinary, but what's done is done and he'll never know how much malicious teasing you had to endure hurt you. At least you weren't physically bullied, as the teachers put a stop to that if it occurred."

"That's one thing to be thankful for," Spencer said.

"Yes, it is," Whitney agreed. "You must know that the kids that taunted you were in no way correct in what they said and that they were just jealous and many children like to hurt others."

"Yes, I know," Spencer admitted.

"I know those things affected you deeply," Whitney said more quietly. "Kids often believe what isn't true, just because they don't have the self-confidence to believe otherwise. I know very well that if you get verbally taunted often enough with the same kind of crap that you start to believe it. I know it didn't help that you skipped some grades and would have skipped more if mom had let you."

"Which can affect you later in life," Spencer said.

"But you also don't have to believe it," Whitney told her older brother firmly. "I've often thought you should see a psychologist, but I knew you would never go for the idea so I never brought it up. However, if you throw away this opportunity to make some good friends at least then I'm going to insist you go see one to have your head examined. In fact, I'll drag you there myself if I have to, because I don't want to have to put you in institution for being totally insane."

Spencer blushed knowing that this was his sister's way of saying to get over the stuff he had endured in high school from other students who were jealous of his intelligence. She was saying that the stuff he had been taunted with was in no way the truth and he needed to get over it, so that he could have a happier life, one hopefully, with a family somewhere down the road.

"You're right," Spencer admitted quietly.

"Of course I am," Whitney said with a smile, that was more then a little smug.

"Alright, there is no reason to rub it in," Spencer protested smiling himself, knowing that Whitney was just teasing.

"Well, so long as I got my point across," Whitney teased him.

"You've made your point," Spencer promised.

"Good, because if I catch you doing something stupid like ditching this possible relationship, just because you're scared to get involved with anyone, then I'll take you over my knee," Whitney threatened.

Spencer knew very well that Whitney would indeed take him over her knee and she could do it too, because she was, much stronger than him and almost as tall. She exercised several times a week and was stronger than was at first apparent. If his sister believed that he needed an object lesson, then she would be happy to deliver it and though he would probably resent the hell out of her at first then he would realize in the end that she was right. Something he promised himself he would never tell her, because it would make her insufferable.

He would know that she was only spanking him and probably on his bare rear end for his own good, to get him to see that he couldn't let his fears control him and pain often taught a lesson. Spencer loved to be spanked, although not by his sister of course, and he had actually gotten into the BDSM scene, though there were some things he wouldn't try unless he trusted his partner absolutely. Still, he enjoyed some of the lighter parts of BDSM, like using a riding crop on his butt and back and could certainly learn to enjoy some of the heavier and more painful activities if he had the right partner. He had always been a sub though never a dom and he knew it fit his personality.

"It's just a friendship, not a relationship," Spencer protested.

"Who's to say that it won't turn into something more, even if it starts out as friendship," Whitney pointed out practically. "Friendship might be all they have in mind or they could have other ideas and I don't want you turning them down just because of your fear of being hurt. Now, if you genuinely don't have any romantic feelings for them it's one thing, but I don't want you to run away if you do start to develop genuine feelings for them and them for you."

"Towards Harper anyway, as I don't swing towards my own sex," Spencer said, as he contemplated the idea.

"This Aaron Hotchner probably doesn't either," Whitney said, "but he might be open to alternate types of relationships."

Spencer knew that Whitney meant group marriages with three or more people all married to each other of any combination of sexes. Technically, there was no limit to the number you could marry, but most people stuck to two or possibly three partners.

"I think you are imagining things," Spencer told his sister mildly. "I can't see either Aaron or Harper wanting somebody like me as anything more than a friend. The two of them are so deeply in love I doubt very much that they've even considering taking on another partner. If you had seen how lovey-dovey they were with each other while we were having lunch you wouldn't doubt that at all. It might've been subtle, but it was there."

"And that's all it may turn out to be," Whitney shrugged. "I just want you to be open to the possibility and not reject it out of hand. Even people who are deeply in love, doesn't necessarily stop them from searching for another partner, as one might not be able to fulfill the others sexual needs completely."

"Or they want to make their sex life a little bit more exciting with someone else," Spencer considered. He could actually see himself fulfilling a role like that and it didn't necessarily have to lead to marriage. If both partners didn't mind having another person joining them from outside the marriage, even on a temporary basis that he could see himself fulfilling that temporary spot.

"Exactly," Whitney agreed, "and if both partners agree to it then it's not really cheating, is it?"

"No, I suppose not," Spencer agreed. "That kind of stuff goes on all the time and so long as all the parties agree to it then no, I suppose it couldn't be considered cheating."

"So do you have your head on straight or do I need to slap some sense into you?" Whitney grinning a little.

"No, you don't," Spencer said backing away as far as he could, as he didn't want to be slapped by his sister. It wasn't even the matter that it hurt when she slapped him, as that kind of excited him or even that it was painful. No, what mattered was the pain started to release certain chemicals in his body that made him start to sport an erection and considering that Whitney was his sister he didn't need to be thinking that way about her. He was sure that Whitney had no idea what her slaps could do to him and he did not want her ever discovering it either. He would be embarrassed forever if she found out. First, she would probably laugh herself silly and then try to blackmail him to do something for her, probably something embarrassing, so that she did not reveal his secret to the world. No, he definitely didn't want her to find out.

"Good, now scat I need to get back to work, but if you need another little talk I'll be happy to oblige," Whitney said with a malicious grin.

"I don't think so," Spencer said trying not to shudder at Whitney's idea of a little talk, because his idea of a little talk and his sister's would two totally different things and in fact, they weren't even in the same universe.

"Make sure you don't," Whitney said mock severely.

"You enjoy those little talks as you like beating me up, verbally at least," Spencer accused his sister. "I won't defend myself and you know it."

"Yep! Why do you think I like doing it so much," Whitney grinned at him maliciously.

"I'll see you later," Spencer said hastily rising from the chair and heading out of the coffeeshop, Whitney watching him go with a malicious smile on her lips. "Give my nieces my love."

She so loved teasing her older brother and always would.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	15. Chapter 15

Part 15

Brooke and Jeremy

"So like it?" Jeremy asked, as Brooke sampled the food from his sister Pam's restaurant, named simply Pamela's. It was apparently a pretty popular place as it was pretty packed, even at 7:30 on the same day that the two of them had met.

"This is really good," Brooke said smiling, after she had swallowed a bite of her dinner

Brooke had chosen chicken, with collards, rice and fruit and she was drinking a Diet Sprite.

"Now you know why I come here fairly frequently," Jeremy grinned. "Pam has a good variety and everything is really good. The foods not all that exotic, just supremely well prepared."

"Well, your sister is a great cook much like my father," Brooke complimented her date, not mentioning that she was a great cook too as her father had made sure of that. She would definitely have to cook for Jeremy sometime, but probably not anytime soon, as they needed a chance to get to know each other better.

"So is your father a chef? Does he own a restaurant himself?" Jeremy asked.

"He doesn't actually," Brookes said shaking her head. "He could if he wanted to, but he's always said that he prefers just cooking for his family. It's true his children are grown, but he still has three wives. My mother, Aunts Emily and JJ can cook too, but my father is the main chef of the family. Aunt Emily is the only one that tries to avoid fixing a meal and she doesn't really enjoy it."

"Well, not everybody enjoys cooking, even if they know how," Jeremy said.

"Well, it's a good thing that my dad's such a good cook then, because he didn't meet my Aunt JJ or mom until later and they certainly would've had to eat out much more than they do if he wasn't. Actually, mom wasn't that good a cook at first either, but dad taught her and now she's really quite decent at it, but then she wanted to learn, so that she could take over cooking duties sometimes. Still, dad is the main cook for the family," Brooke said.

"There's nothing wrong with eating out," Jeremy grinned.

"I never said there was, just that it's not home cooking that's all," Brooke shrugged. "My family certainly eats out, but not as much as we could have, mostly on special occasions. Dad's an expert chef though, so neither me or Harper minded."

"And eating out can get to be a bit expensive," Jeremy admitted.

"Yeah, it can," Brooke agreed. "That wouldn't have mattered to my family, as we have plenty of money if we wanted to eat out all three meals of the day."

"So what does your dad do for living?" asked Jeremy.

"He was a writer and a very successful, but he's kind of semiretired now," Brooke shrugged not mentioning her dad had had several writing careers over the centuries, the last one ending just 30 years ago.

"What about your mother and your aunts?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, my mother has created a lot of computer programs that make every day life easier for those that use computers frequently," said Brooke. "She has a very lucrative deal with one of the electronics company."

Brooke didn't bother to mention that this had been a profession for her mother on and off over the centuries. Every once in awhile her mom created more computer programs when she realized the need for them and it was certainly very lucrative. Problems that hadn't existed back the last time her mother had created computer programs tended to pop up every so often, as computers and technology improved.

"Which brings money flowing into the family coffers," Jeremy said appreciatively.

"Yep!" Brooke said smiling at Jeremy's instant understanding, but then she had already realized that he was very intelligent. However, since his father was an attorney and his mother a university professor that would almost have to mean that all their children were intelligent. Not necessarily Brooke knew, as human genetics threw up all sorts of oddities from time to time, incurable diseases, that were mutations of other diseases that had been cured, or sometimes things like a faulty and twisted limb to where it was useless or weaker than the others, and many other things.

Still, the odds were certainly in their favor and they could cure so many things now that they hadn't been able to back when she had been born and especially back when her father and Aunt Emily had been born.

The two of them chatted as they ate their dinners, and Brooke longed to just cuddle up to Jeremy but she knew it was much too soon, as the two of them had just met a few hours ago so she was going to have to take things much more slowly than she would like. She really wanted to complete the bond with her mate, but Jeremy had no idea that the two of them were meant to be together. Oh, he was strongly attracted to her, that much was obvious, but that was a far cry from making a lifetime commitment. She was just going to have to be patient and she knew it. She also knew that the only way to turn somebody like Jeremy Immortal, was for him to drink an Immortal's blood, since it wasn't like she could turn him through sex. This was the way that female Immortals had been turning their mortal male lovers into what they, themselves were for thousands of years. Really, it was the only way, though at least there was a way. Most people would never even consider drinking someone's blood and it took a lot to convince them especially back when her father had been born. For one thing absolute trust was required, because drinking blood was not normal.

Brooke briefly wondered if injecting the blood directly into Jeremy's veins would work and knew that she would have to pose that question to her father. It would certainly be easier and much simpler if she could do so and have it work.

The science behind it was sound, so it more than likely would work, but that was for later.

Immortal blood was powerful stuff and it wouldn't take very much of it to turn a human into an Immortal. That didn't mean that she didn't wish she could use sex to turn him Immortal, but since she was a female Immortal and Jeremy was male mortal unfortunately this was the way it had to be done.

Still, she had plenty of time to check with her family before she told Jeremy what she was.

"Can I see you again?" Jeremy asked once the meal was completed and he had paid the bill.

"Of course you can!" Brooke's exclaimed winkling her nose at him, as if she didn't understand the question. "I really enjoyed myself tonight, so a second date would be great."

Jeremy smiled in relief and in his expression Brooke saw a certain vulnerability.

"What about tomorrow unless you're busy?" Brooke suggested, trying not to seem to eager.

"I'm actually off tomorrow, as I have several people that can take over the bookstore," Jeremy said. "You don't have to work?"

"I don't really have a job per se," Brooke said. "I help out at a daycare center that's near where I live. I'm a volunteer and I do so, because I genuinely love children and because it gets me out of the house for a few hours a few days a week. Let's just say that my family made sure that neither Harper or I would have to worry about money."

"You've been longing for some of your own children," Jeremy said and Brooke nodded.

"Yeah, I have," Brooke admitted. "I don't want to have them with just anybody though, even if being a single mother with no husband in sight isn't looked down on as much as it once was. In fact, it's quite common."

Brooke didn't tell Jeremy the real reason she hadn't had any children yet and that was it was impossible to have children with a mortal and also they could only have them every 70 years or so with a few rare exceptions like her parents. She could have adopted she knew that, just like her sister and her mate had done in between children, but she hadn't wanted to go that route at least at the time.

"I can't blame you there as I'm sure your parents wouldn't be happy if you had a child out of wedlock. I know mine wouldn't be, particularly my father."

"I don't think my parents would care actually and neither would my aunts," Brooke said seriously. "They would consider such a child a blessing no matter how he or she came about."

"Definitely different from my parents reactions," Jeremy said shuddering dramatically. "Still, once they got over their initial reactions they would love any child that I had outside of marriage. However, I've never been so stupid as not to use a condom whenever I'm with someone, even if whoever I'm dating says she's on the pill."

"That's probably very smart," Brooke said, not bothering to tell Jeremy that such precautions wouldn't be necessary with her, as he wouldn't be able to get her pregnant no matter how hard he tried, not until he was Immortal himself and then not for decades.

The two of them walked hand-in-hand to Jeremy's car and Jeremy gallantly opened the passenger door for his date.

"Why thank you, kind sir," Brooke giggled.

"You're quite welcome, sweetheart," Jeremy said with a mile wide grin. He walked around his car to get in the driver's side.

"You can drop me off so I can pick up my car and I'll meet you tomorrow wherever you specify," Brooke said.

"Or I can pick you up?" Jeremy suggested with a puppy dog expression.

"That might be okay," Brooke considered. "Alright, I'll allow you to pick me up then."

Brooke gave Jeremy her address, or the address of the house that her sister and her mate had bought.

"Why don't I pick you up about nine and we can spend all day together," Jeremy suggested.

"I suppose that will do, although I've always been a late sleeper. A late sleeper in a family of early risers," Brooke said laughing a little. "I'm going to have to make sure to set my alarm."

"Well, I like to sleep late to when I can, but I don't make a habit of it," Jeremy chuckled.

"I know I've been teased a lot about sleeping until noon," Brooke laughed. "I just can't seem to wake up before 10 or 11 and I tend to sleep like the dead."

"Some people are like that," Jeremy chuckled feeling happier than he had in a long time. He had feared for awhile that he would never meet the one, but he was already sure that Brooke was it for him, not that he intended to tell anybody about her for sometime. He was sure that his sister Pam knew, as they had eaten at her restaurant, but she wasn't aware Brooke was the one he wanted to marry, as it had only been one date after all. Still, his sister was intelligent and observant and would have noticed how the two of them interacted, so she probably had a suspicion at least.

"Yeah, they are," Brooke agreed, "so I'm not the only one in the world that likes to sleep late."

The two of them talked about everything under the sun as Jeremy drove back to the Moonlight Bookshop, as that was where Brooke had left her car and a few minutes later they arrived.

"Here you are," Jeremy, said as he pulled up alongside her Porsche.

"Thank you," Brooke said kissing his cheek causing Jeremy to blush a brilliant red, but also to smile as widely as possible.

"You're quite welcome," Jeremy said, looking as if he was never going to wash his cheek again. "I'll see you tomorrow.

"Tomorrow," Brooke said smiling, as she exited the car and watched as Jeremy drove away.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"So what's his name?" Harper inquired with a teasing grin as soon as Brooke had walked into the living room after her date at about 10:00 at night.

"Jeremy Reid," Brooke answered with a sappy grin.

Harper and Aaron both looked startled and then they exchanged looks.

"What are the odds?" Aaron asked his mate quietly.

"Probably a zillion to one," Harper said, just as quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Brooke asked with a puzzled expression.

"Nothing really, except your mate's older brother Spencer is our mate," Harper explained.

Brooke stared at her sister and Aaron in astonishment.

"Are you saying that two brothers are the mates of two Immortals who are sisters? Twins no less?" asked Brooke her expression amazed.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Aaron asked.

"I would say so," Brooke said in astonishment.

"Yeah, it is pretty amazing," Harper said agreeing with her mate on this one.

"Are we sure they're brothers?" Brooke asked.

"He told you he owned the Moonlight Bookshop, right?" asked Aaron.

Brooke nodded.

"Then yes, he is Spencer's brother, because he told us his brother Jeremy owned the Moonlight Bookshop," Harper said. "I can't actually imagine there being two Reid families with brothers named Spencer and Jeremy in Las Vegas. I suppose Jeremy's a common enough name, but Spencer isn't."

"Spencer told us all his siblings names, so there is no doubt," Aaron told Brooke.

"I don't doubt you, because Jeremy told me all his siblings names to, it's just astonishing that's all," Brooke admitted smiling at the irony of it.

"Yeah, it is," Harper agreed smiling. "I'm not sure it's ever happened before actually, but we don't know, do we?"

"No, we don't," Aaron said.

"For all we know it might happened at least once somewhere," Brooke suggested

"It's certainly possible," Aaron said.

"So how was your date?" Harper asked again.

"It was wonderful," Brooke said with a sappy expression.

"So where did you go?" Harper asked.

"Nowhere fancy," Brooke said.

"Considering you had a date on the same day you met him I wouldn't expect fancy," Harper said.

"No, it was very casual, but still really wonderful," Brooke said. "We went to his sister's Pam's restaurant named Pamela's. It's a really popular place where the food is superb and the atmosphere is very casual."

"So what's he like?" Harper asked.

"He was the perfect gentleman, but really shy," Brooke said. "I can't say that overconfidence is his problem, because it's not."

"Once you get to know each other I think the shyness will disappear," Aaron suggested. "A lot of men are not that confident on a first date, especially not with a girl or women they really like. At least he didn't get all tongue-tied."

"Well, there were a few awkward moments, but not too many," Brooke said. "I thought it went rather well actually, considering that I had to be careful about what I revealed."

"No, you definitely don't want to reveal something like Immortals on a first date," Aaron agreed smiling.

"Your date would probably think you were insane if you did so," Harper chuckled.

"So how did your date with Spencer go?" Brooke asked.

"It went okay," Harper answered.

"It was a really good first date, but unlike Jeremy, Spencer doesn't realize that it actually was a date," Aaron said.

"Spencer believes that we invited him along to lunch to discuss books among other things of similar interest, because we like some of the same authors and same genres. I don't think he realizes that it actually was a date and I'm positive it hasn't occurred to him that more than couples can get married nowadays," Harper said.

"He sounds a lot like Jeremy," Brooke said thoughtfully. "Jeremy was very nervous when he asked me out on a date, as if he expected me to turn him down. He wasn't sure if I was married or had a boyfriend or not. Still, for a first date hours after we met I thought it went great."

"He's probably been rejected before," Aaron said.

"Most people have at some point in their lives," Brooke said.

"Yes, but it can make some people more nervous about trying again, especially if they are rejected on a regular basis," Harper said.

"No matter how nicely it's done it still hurts and some people are afraid to try again," Aaron added. "I think asking you out on a date was a big step for Jeremy so he must really be super attracted to you."

"That's a good thing if you ask me," Brooke said with a rather mischievous grin.

"Of course it is," Harper chuckled. "So when are you seeing him again?"

"Tomorrow actually, as it's his day off," Brooke said. "He supposed to pick me up at nine."

"That's a little early for you isn't it?" Harper teased her sister.

"I know, I know, so I like to sleep late," Brooke said in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes. "I'll just have to make sure I set my alarm so I'm up by at least eight."

"I'll wake you, if you're not up already," Harper promised.

"Thanks, sis," Brooke said looking grateful.

"I wouldn't want you to keep Jeremy waiting," Harper said.

"It wouldn't do him any harm to wait a few minutes," Aaron grinned. "Men are always waiting on their ladies to get dressed for a date."

"Maybe we keep you waiting deliberately, as it ups the anticipation," Harper suggested with a raised eyebrow.

"I certainly wouldn't put it past you at least," Aaron chuckled.

He had been left waiting downstairs more than once over the centuries waiting for Harper to finish getting dressed for a date he had planned. Of course, by the time she was finished getting all dressed up and came downstairs, he just wanted to take her right back up, so he could rip the clothes off her and make love to her all day and night. He thought his mate looked even more gorgeous than usual when she got dressed up in a dinner dress and did her hair up in an elegant style, which was different from the way she did it normally. He knew that doing it up in such an elegant style took much longer than the way that Harper usually did it. She saved that kind of hairstyle for a date or some important event. He knew that Harper was more a casual type person, though she didn't mind getting dressed up for the special occasions, just not for every day, like some women did.

"Anticipation is good for the soul," Harper said with an angelic expression.

"If you say so," Aaron said inserting doubt into his tone.

Brooke tried not to chuckle at the byplay knowing that her sister and Aaron were just teasing each other.

"I had better head to bed if I'm going to be up by eight," Brooke said.

"We'll see you in the morning," Harper told her sister giving her a hug.

"Don't expect me home at any particular time," Brooke added. "I expect I'll spend all day with Jeremy."

"We won't bother to wait up for you then," Aaron said.

"Enjoy yourself," Harper added and Brooke grinned at her, as if to say, Of course, I'm going to enjoy myself, this is my mate we're talking about after all.

Brooke left the room and headed upstairs to her bedroom suite, so she could get a shower and go to bed since she had to get up so early in the morning.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	16. Chapter 16

Part 16

Several months later

Spencer had slowly come to conclusion that Aaron and Harper were definitely courting him or Harper was at least, but Aaron allowed it. It was just as his sister had suggested months ago. He still hadn't figured out why though, as really, he was nothing special, or at least he saw himself that way.

He had been strongly attracted to Harper at least from the beginning and he knew with certainty that Aaron didn't mind the fact that he had a very large crush on his wife. That was one thing that confused him though, he had seen Aaron more than once get rid of guys that took an interest in Harper whenever they went out somewhere just by glaring at them and yet he didn't seem to mind him hanging around with Harper alone.

Nothing had happened at least not without Aaron there, but Spencer had to admit that he was falling, even more deeply in love with Harper Hotchner and he did not understand why Aaron didn't seem to mind, because any other man would have been extremely possessive of their wife. He was going to have to confront him about it and they had better give him an answer that satisfied him, because he didn't like not understanding what was going on. It would certainly be better for everyone involved if he just broke off contact with the Hotchners.

It never even occurred to Spencer that he could become a part of a group marriage because he had never imagined marrying more than one person, if he married at all. He knew very well that his mother wanted him to find someone to settle down with and be happy, but since his intelligence and awkward social skills tended to set him apart from other people he had figured that he would never tie the knot with anyone, because most females couldn't listen to him for more than 10 minutes without getting a glazed look in their eyes.

Aaron and Harper were different though and they listened to him without preconceptions or prejudices and they definitely paid genuine attention, even asking intelligent questions. They were both very intelligent in their own right and somebody he could talk to without them tuning him out like so many people did.

Spencer decided that he was going to have to confront them and if they didn't come clean then he would break off all contact, even though that would hurt him, because they were the first true friends he'd ever had and he even considered them best friends. But they were keeping something from him he was sure of that, though he couldn't imagine what it was.

Spencer walked out to his car and drove towards the Hotchners house, which was in a very nice area of the city, though not where the uber wealthy dwelled. Still, it was in a very nice area with plenty of room for expansion if they cared to. They seemed happy with what they had though and Brooke, Harper's sister had a suite of her own and run of the house other then the master bedroom.

The Hotchners didn't seem like the type to be into the BDSM scene, but they had a wide variety of toys some that could cause serious injury if they weren't careful. The three of them had enjoyed themselves more than once using some of the toys that Aaron and Harper owned. As Spencer's trust had grown he had allowed them to put him on the Andrew's Cross and allowed them to use some of the toys they had acquired over the years on him.

For some reason he hadn't even asked for a written contract, because he trusted them for some odd reason. So far they had proven his trust in them and always stopped once he said his safety word.

Spencer drove into the Hotchners driveway and sat in his car for a few minutes trying to figure out how to bring up the subject that was on his mind with them. He didn't want to offend them, but something weird was going on and he was determined to get some answers.

Finally he gathered up his courage and rang the doorbell and it was answered just a few seconds later before he could even think about turning to flee.

"Spencer! What a surprise!" Harper said smiling widely, as she stood there. "Why don't you come in."

Spencer entered the house still trying to come up with a way to approach the topic that had been bothering him for several weeks.

"Harper? Who was at the door?" asked Aaron coming into the entryway.

"Look who came to visit," Harper said, as Aaron came into view.

"Spencer! We certainly didn't, expect to see you today," Aaron said smiling when he saw who it was.

"But we're always happy to," Harper said.

"So what can we do for you? I thought we didn't have another get-together until tomorrow," said Aaron smiling, as he slapped Spencer on the back in a friendly way.

Spencer felt a nice warm glow at the way he was greeted considering he had shown up rather unexpectedly and it hadn't been prearranged. It was a feeling he was beginning to get used to and like a lot. Aaron and Harper were genuinely happy to see him and weren't upset at the way he had just showed up without calling ahead, because it was possible that he could've interrupted some plan of theirs to spend the day elsewhere

"I just thought that we could talk," Spencer said quietly, but the tone was enough to cause Aaron and Harper to exchange glances.

"What about?" Harper asked with a raised eyebrow. However, there was a certain knowledge in her eyes that she couldn't quite conceal fast enough.

"I think you know," Spencer said, as he studied them both. "No, I know, you know and I would like to know what it is, especially if it involves me."

"I think it's time," Harper told Aaron quietly.

Aaron nodded in agreement and then gestured towards the den. "Why don't we discuss this in the den where we can all be comfortable, as there is no point discussing it out in the entryway."

Spencer followed them into the den which was on the ground level of the house. The den was one of the largest rooms, about double the size of a regular den. There was simply lots of space that was covered in comfortable couches and recliners, with several footstools scattered about along with tables for snacks. The furniture was antique and though Spencer was no expert, he knew that all the furniture was worth thousands of dollars, probably tens of thousands. In the middle of the room was a large entertainment screen, that got every channel imaginable. All in all it was very cozy, despite its size, though Spencer had always thought that the Hotchners could have a wall built about halfway to create a separate room, since the den was so large.

"What do you believe you know?" Aaron asked as soon as they were all comfortable.

"I know that you've been... I believe the term is courting me," Spencer said.

"That's a very old-fashioned word," Harper said, trying to hide her nervousness.

"Let's not get off the subject," Spencer said determined to get answers.

"Alright then, yes, we've been courting you," Harper said. "Aaron and I were interested in adding another partner to our relationship and then we met you. Both of us love you just in different ways."

"I love you as a brother and best friend," Aaron said.

"And I love you in the same way I love Aaron and just as deeply," Harper said.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Spencer asked next, since he could tell that they were being completely truthful, as he knew them in every way it was possible to know someone including intimately or at least that was true with Harper. But Aaron had participated in those sessions and the two of them had made love to Harper at the same time, something that she seemed to adore and couldn't get enough of. Spencer hadn't dared hope that this could become some kind of permanent arrangement as he figured it was only temporary until they got tired of having him around or possibly just of the arrangement. He knew what he was thinking was in no way realistic as they had always been genuinely warm and welcoming, but he couldn't seem to help himself. They seemed to genuinely love him for himself and didn't care about all his eccentricities and faults like so many people had pointed out him in the past. As his sister Whitney had often said he shouldn't pay attention to those people, because they were just jealous of his many gifts. Besides, everyone had faults, which was something else Whitney had pointed out and more than once.

He shouldn't care what other people thought of him, especially when they used their words to hurt him whether on purpose or not. Aaron and Harper had never done anything to hurt him physically, well, except with his permission and definitely didn't find a way to cut him down with their words. Being flogged on a regular basis helped him see things more clearly, as it drained the tension, the worry of what other people thought of him and just allowed him to be himself, allowed him to shut off his brain for a few minutes so he didn't think so much or care about anyone except himself. He always saw more clearly when a session was over at least for awhile.

"We didn't think you were ready to hear it," Aaron answered honestly.

"We would have told you sometime in the next few months, as we would've been dating a year in just three months," Harper added.

"I suppose we have," Spencer laughed the sound sounding rather harsh, "even if I didn't know we were."

"We did leave you lots of signs," Harper said.

"But until recently you didn't want to see them," Aaron added.

"Alright, one question," Spencer said. "Why me?" Spencer asked when he was sure that he had Aaron's and Harper's attention. "I'm nobody special."

"Spencer you need to stop thinking so little of yourself," Harper told him in a serious tone of voice, her expression annoyed. It took a lot to annoy Harper, Spencer knew, as she was usually pretty easygoing. "You're a handsome, intelligent man that has let peoples words hurt you deeply, even though they have no basis in fact and were likely said from sheer jealousy or at least those people didn't understand how words can affect someone. You have let peoples jealousy affect you all your life, especially women who couldn't see what special person you are. The world is made up of all kinds of people and you should have realized a long time ago that there was someone out there that would accept you for who you are and not ignore, disdain or try to change you into someone you're not. I'll freely admit that there's a lot of idiots in the world that don't pay attention to anyone outside their close circle of friends and associates or even outside themselves if they're truly selfish, self-centered and arrogant, but just because those idiots make up a great deal of the population, it doesn't mean that everybody's that way."

Spencer was silent feeling as if he had been thoroughly chastised and knew that Whitney had been telling him essentially the same thing for years, but it hadn't had much effect for she was his sister after all and sisters were supposed to point out their siblings faults. It was a form of affection and to make sure those siblings didn't get too big a head and become all arrogant and full of themselves.

"Just because other people didn't think you were special doesn't mean that Aaron and I don't," Harper added after a long silence.

"Do you really think that we would have been spending so much time together if we didn't genuinely love you for yourself?" Aaron asked. "We've been spending far more time with you than we do with our friends."

Spencer felt touched at their words and knew that he did spend quite a bit of time with the Hotchners, a lot more then even close friends usually spent with each other.

"And Spencer don't doubt for a moment that we don't want this to be a permanent arrangement, as neither Harper or I would have allowed you to do the things you've done to her if we didn't want something more permanent," Aaron said.

Spencer had never considered it in that way, but now he could admit having sex with Harper had been the best he'd ever had and at the time he hadn't wondered why Aaron had allowed it, as he certainly would've beat anybody up or tried to have sex with the woman he loved and he believed that he'd have felt that way even if he'd had permission from both parties. The need to protect your mate was a primitive, very strong instinct in human beings, though Spencer knew that it manifested in some people more strongly than in others. Of course, Spencer was aware that it depended on somebody's emotions at the time, but if you truly loved someone then that instinct tended to manifest if the person you loved was in danger from another.

"I didn't really wonder until now why you allowed me to have sex with your wife considering that most men are very protective of what they considered theirs, especially their women," said Spencer.

Harper and Aaron exchanged quick glances thinking that Ilithyia, must've been making Spencer rather incurious until the time was right, because normally, Spencer was very curious type person and liked to know about everything. The two of them had never thought about it, but Spencer's personality was such that normally, he would have asked a million questions that they couldn't answer at the time, so Ilithyia's subtle interference was the only answer.

"They are such things as multiple marriages now," Aaron pointed out distracting Spencer from asking what the look he and Harper had exchanged meant.

"Yes, I know, but I've never understood how a man or a woman for that matter could ask someone else to join them unless the circumstances are rather unusual," Spencer said. "I know group marriages as they are also known are quite common and it's not that I'm against it or anything, just that human instincts to protect their territory tends to be quite strong, at least when there is true love between a couple. I know very well that sometimes both men and women cheat on their partners, but in that case I don't believe that those couples are truly in love or at the very least they lost that love by losing their common ground."

"Unfortunately, that happens all the time," Harper said

"Couples tend to forget that they need to buy each other's gifts, take each other to dinner or at least on a date and talk about their day as that helps keep that common ground," Aaron agreed.

"So would you consider it at least?" Harper asked, giving Spencer her best puppy dog expression.

"We already have so much fun together and I'm not just talking about the BDSM we do in the privacy of our home," Aaron said.

"Though that's fun to," Harper said grinning wickedly.

"You do know that most people would call us masochists, right?" Spencer inquired with a straight face.

"Or sadists," Aaron said with a wicked grin.

"Who cares what other people call it?" Harper suggested. "Thousands, even millions of people do it all over the world. All three of us are so well matched in that way and Aaron and I at least have high tolerances for pain. We don't have a serious session more than once every few weeks, but it helps drain the tension, the worry and at least for me it helps me keep my temper around idiots."

"As for me, I've always been good at keeping my temper, but now I've discovered a way to drain my tension so I'm much more relaxed than I used to be. I've loosened up considerably ever since Harper and I started using these techniques," Aaron said.

"We're always careful to never go to far and to listen to our partner," Harper said.

"For me it helps drain my tension, worry and problems to the point that my brain isn't telling me contradictory information to what my heart is. For me to turn my brain off even for an hour or so helps me think more clearly. It was after one of those sessions a few weeks ago that I realized that I loved Harper, but I knew I couldn't say anything because I just knew that you'd have thrown me out of your lives."

"We've known for some time that you did," Aaron told Spencer quietly. "We were just waiting for you to realize it."

"Since when?" Spencer asked trying not to sound choked with shock

"Since a few weeks after we met," Harper said. "All the signs were there, but we realized quickly that you didn't really know what you were feeling or at least you were trying to deny what you were feeling, neither of us was sure which, so we said nothing."

"We wanted you to realize that you did love Harper for yourself, because to force that kind of thing usually makes somebody backpedal and deny it," Aaron added.

"People tend be stubborn and don't like to be forced to admit their feelings, not even by good friends," Harper said.

"It's just much better if that person admits their feelings for themselves," Aaron said.

"Which we weren't sure was ever going to happen with you because your brain is always active and you go by that instead of your heart," Harper said.

"Logic is all well and good, but when it comes to feelings, that's the heart's function and you need to learn to listen to it," Aaron said.

"Which is something those BDSM sessions helped me realize," Spencer said quietly having been listening intently to his two friends. "I suppose I've always gone by logic and almost never listen to my heart, which is something my sister Whitney has been chastising me about for years telling me that human beings were not droids." Spencer said finally. "Droids have no emotion, except for what's programmed into them and a lot of people prefer them to human servants. I guess I was so afraid of being hurt that listening to the logical part of me, my brain, was just easier and less painful, then listening to my feelings."

"Yes, we know from experience that people can be cruel, thoughtless, but that's just human nature and it doesn't necessarily mean anything unless you allow it to," Aaron said.

"So what do you say about making this a permanent arrangement?" Harper asked again.

"I would like that," Spencer said shyly. "I would like that a lot."

"Good," Harper said and it was obvious she was pleased.

"We'll just do a small ceremony down at the courthouse," Aaron said smiling. "Well unless you want something bigger, more grand."

"No, just having a justice of the peace there is enough for me," Spencer said. "Before we get to that though I need to meet your parents and you need to meet mine."

"My parents will love you," Harper told him. "I guarantee it."

"They will, as they're very supportive of Harper and Brooke," Aaron snorted smiling. "They won't have anything against multiple marriages considering her father has three wives."

"I remember you mentioning that," Spencer said. "Back when we first met."

"Here we had this made up for you," Aaron said taking a small jewelry box out of his pocket. "We were hoping you would accept our offer, so Harper and I had this made up just in case."

Spencer opened the box to see a rare blue diamond ring. It was simply stunning a dark blue color.

"It's beautiful, but it's much too much," Spencer protested weakly, as he stared at the blue diamond ring. "Blue diamonds are some of the very rarest in the world and therefore the price is..."

"Price doesn't matter," Harper told Spencer.

"We can afford it," Aaron said with a smile and twinkling brown eyes

"It wouldn't be so special if we got you an ordinary white diamond," Harper said.

"You might as well put it on and see if it fits, because we can't return it," Aaron said smiling.

"Why don't you do it Harper, since I'm assuming that it's you I'm getting married to," Spencer said and Harper nodded taking the ring box from Spencer's hand.

She took the ring out of the box and gently slipped it on Spencer's right ring finger.

As Harper did, so she gently held his hand in one of her own and used the other one just left the ring on.

Spencer simply stared and the ring feeling happier than he had in a long time wondering how he had gotten so lucky.

"We have something else to tell you," Harper said after a long happy silence.

"What's that?" Spencer asked with a raised eyebrow. He couldn't help but wonder what they had been holding back other than the fact that they had been courting him in the very old fashioned sense of the word.

"Why don't we retake our seats, as this is going to be hard to believe," Aaron said.

Spencer retook his seat in the same chair he had been sitting in just minutes prior.

Spencer listened as Aaron and Harper took turns explaining all about the world of Immortals that was kept secret from normal humans for the most part, then all about how Immortals had soulmates and some had more than one.

Spencer wanted to protest that Immortals could not exist, but as he listened he studied their body language, there expression, their gestures and could only come to the conclusion that they were speaking nothing but the truth or at least what they believed to be the truth.

He had come to know them over the last few months and you every expression they used regularly.

"So Immortals have been around how long?" Spencer asked.

Aaron and Harper exchanged glances and a silent message that he couldn't interpret passed between them.

"We're not really sure how long they've been around, several thousand years at least," Harper answered.

"We don't exactly keep a written record too much chance of some mortal finding it," Aaron added.

"No, it's word-of-mouth only, though we do have our own symbols so we recognize each other," Harper said.

"The slightly tilted backwards Z with a line through it?" Spencer asked shrewdly.

"You noticed," Harper smiled.

"We already knew he was pretty observant," said Aaron. "I'm actually surprised he hasn't asked us about it before."

"I just figured it a symbol for some kind of society that you were part of or had been part of, in college maybe," Spencer shrugged. "I was curious, but I figured you'd tell me what it meant when you wanted to. I guess it does make sense that you have a symbol that most people wouldn't recognize unless they're an Immortal themselves."

"You're taking this awfully well," Aaron said studying Spencer intently.

"Yes, he is," Harper agreed. "Why aren't you freaked out? Most people would be you know."

"I suppose it's because I've come to know you both so well," Spencer tried to explain. "The fact you both worked so hard to gain my trust has not been in vain. I'm not saying I'm not in shock, because I am and of course, I would like a demonstration, but for the moment I believe you unless you prove you can't be."

"Something we never intend to do," Harper said looking horrified at the very thought.

"No, we don't, because neither one of us will be complete without you," Aaron said.

"So I hope I'm not expected to have sex with both of you," Spencer asked, although he felt embarrassed just saying the words.

"No, that's not the way it works," Harper told him with a gentle, understanding smile. "Aaron only feels that swirling blankness we told you about because I do and we share a connection. No, you and Aaron will remain close as brothers and best friends. Of course, if you do want to try to have sex with each other then I wouldn't object since it's your choice, but it's not a requirement."

"I'm trying to figure out how this works won't one of us be jealous of the other? Humans are jealous creatures and I've never understood how more than one man share one woman or vice versa."

"The bond prevents that," Aaron explained. "It prevents jealousy you see."

"Oh," Spencer said trying to absorb that bit of information. "How do you turn someone Immortal?"

"Well, it's usually done through sex," Aaron explained and watched as Spencer blushed a brilliant crimson. "However, considering that neither one of us is into our own sex there's another way to do it."

"How's that? Since the first method won't work in our case?" Spencer asked curiously, feeling as if he was being encouraged to accept Aaron and Harper's explanation and he wasn't sure why that didn't horrify or make him afraid. It was as if his emotions were being blunted, wrapped up in cotton wool something he was sure that the two people sitting across from him were not responsible for, which meant that it had to be this Ilithyia that his two friends had mentioned. Ilithyia was one of the Greek Parthenon, but a very minor member and most people had probably never heard of her. Still, even a minor goddess could be very powerful.

"Well, it's not going to be very pleasant for you," Harper said.

Spencer simply stared at her until she finally blurted out. "You have to drink enough of our blood that it will start changing you into an Immortal."

"Our blood is much more powerful then a normal mortals and it only takes a little bit of it compared to other ways," Aaron said.

"That does sound fairly disgusting," Spencer admitted winkling his nose. "What about using a syringe?"

"You know that's not a bad idea," Harper said looking at Aaron. "We can get a doctor to do it so that he gets the correct dosage. I'm sure you have to inject more for someone who has more muscle mass and body weight then Spencer does."

"I wonder if this method has ever been tried before," Aaron wondered.

"It might have been," Harper considered. "I can ask dad, he might know and if he doesn't we can ask Graciela. Besides, Graciela is a physician that can likely do it for us."

"You mentioned that your father had three wives when we first met. Our they all his mates?" Spencer asked.

"Yes, they are and I'll have to tell you the story sometime about how he found all of them, but that's for later as both Aaron and I think you have enough to absorb for right now," Harper said

"What you need is a goodnight's sleep so that you wake up with a clear head and you're welcome to stay here for the night either in one of the guestrooms or you can sleep with Harper and I like you've done a few times in the past," Aaron said.

"Oh, no, I need to get home," Spencer protested.

"We don't want you driving not in the state you are in," Harper said.

"Besides, you're going to be living here soon enough," Aaron said. "In the meantime, we both want to know that you're safe."

Harper gave Spencer her best puppy dog look and he caved immediately.

"You stayed overnight before, so this no reason you can't stay over again," Harper said. "Some of your things are still packed away in the closet.

"How can I resist that look?" Spencer said giving in. "I have absolutely no willpower when it comes to you."

"Neither do I," Aaron promised him his dark eyes twinkling

"Do you want some dinner before you get some rest? Or do you just want to go straight to bed?" Harper asked. "I can whip you up something right quick, it won't take long."

"That's okay, I think I'm just going to go to bed," Spencer decided. "The information you have given me was pretty...earthshattering and I think I'll feel better once I've had a full night's sleep."

"That's probably wise," Aaron said. "So guestroom or the master bedroom? Either is fine with Harper and I, as we don't want to push you into anything, even if technically, we're engaged now."

"I think the guestroom for tonight," Spencer said. "I need time to think, to be alone without you two."

"We understand," Harper said trying to hide her disappointment, even if she truly did understand where Spencer was coming from.

"I'll bring your things to the guestroom then and see you in the morning," Aaron said. "Don't be afraid come into the master bedroom if you want to, even if it's the middle the night, as you'll always be welcome."

"Feel free to take a shower or just soak in the Jacuzzi that's part of the bathroom in your suite," Harper said. "I found that a nice relaxing soak helps me think a lot of times and who knows you might be the same way."

Spencer nodded and then Aaron led him upstairs to the guestroom, even though he knew the way, as he had stayed over a few times. He really appreciated their concern considering he felt, as if his emotions were sheathed in cotton. Part of that feeling was that he had a lot to absorb and he knew it, but it wasn't the whole answer.

"Here you go," Aaron said, as he opened the door to the guestroom, which was already sparkling clean with fresh sheets. Spencer knew then that the droid must've just been here just hours ago for it to look so clean, but right now he was grateful.

"I'll just go get your things and be right back," Aaron said, not showing how disappointed he was that Spencer wouldn't be sleeping with him and Harper like he had in the past.

He could understand it however, as he and Harper tended to overwhelm somebody with Spencer's quiet personality without meaning to, as both of them had very strong personalities and Spencer couldn't resist Harper's pleading, especially when she gave him her best puppy dog look, so Aaron knew that it was the right decision no matter how much it hurt.

"Here you go," Aaron said returning in less than five minutes with the things that Spencer had left here in the last few months. "I'll see you in the morning."

"In the morning," Spencer agreed before Aaron left gently shutting the door behind him.

Once Aaron was gone Spencer took his and Harper's advice and headed it into the bathroom to start filling the Jacuzzi. A nice relaxing soak sounded like just the ticket.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	17. Chapter 17

Part 17

Spencer soaked for a long time, but when he felt himself start to fall asleep he knew it was time to drain the Jacuzzi and go to bed before he fell asleep in the tub.

His thoughts kept circling and he still hadn't reached a decision. There were a lot of pros to the arrangement. For one thing he was genuinely welcome with the Hotchners and he didn't think it was only because of the mate bond, as he had a feeling that they would be just as welcoming to anyone mate bond or not, so long as strangers meant no harm. The couple were just genuinely warm and welcoming people and made friends easily when they desired to. Look at how easily they had won him over and normally, he would have been more cautious of them for more than the first few weeks, but they had won him over in less than a month. It was their manner he decided, so genuinely friendly. They made him feel much more confident than normal and they had never teased him, about how he intended to spout off facts he knew or the fact that he liked to read almost all the time like some people had. Mostly it had been those in high school, but also his father had made more than one comment about how he needed get outside and stop reading all the damn time, like reading was some sort of disease. His mother had always come to his defense and his father would stop for awhile before doing so again, as if he was determined Spencer was going to play outdoors, without taking a book with him.

His father had finally given up and accepted that Spencer just wasn't the outdoor type by the time he was nine years old, but until then it had been a constant battle.

Spencer thoughts kept circling around and around and he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do. Technically, he was engaged to them, but he could give them their ring back, but he found that the thought of taking the ring he had just gotten off caused a gigantic wench of deep pain in his chest. Spencer did something he usually didn't he started listening to his heart rather than his head. His mother had often advised him that he needed to listen to his heart more often, especially where it concerned love. Cool logic was all well and good she had said, but would make all his decisions for him and cause him to reject love, simply because love was an emotion. She had said that he needed to learn how to use his heart in making decisions, as most every decision had an emotional base, even if he would never admit it. Whether that decision was based on anger, hate, love, disdain, disgust or any other emotion there was almost always going to be some emotion underlying his logical thinking as he couldn't just turn them off. One reason he couldn't turn them off completely, was because that would do serious damage to his emotional health, as how would he know how he felt about his family or his friends as both those things were based on emotion. How would he know he was proud of his brother for opening his bookstore and doing so well or his sister her coffeeshop? He might know logically he was supposed to feel those emotions but wouldn't be able to if he blocked them off completely to avoid getting hurt emotionally.

He couldn't control his emotions all the time, even if he wanted to. He couldn't control if he got hurt emotionally or not.

So he could either accept the love, genuine respect and affection they felt for him and risk being hurt or turn them down and be miserable. Yes, he would be miserable if he told them he never wanted to see them again, which wouldn't be very productive for him or them, though at least they had each other.

Well, that part of his decision had been easy, Spencer thought, as he dried himself off before getting dressed for bed. Now, as to the fact they were Immortal that was a lot harder. It wasn't even that he didn't believe them, no matter how hard that was, mostly because they knew they had to produce proof in the morning when his head was clearer or he would tell them sayonara. The thing he was really struggling with was the fact: Could he live as an Immortal for hundreds, even thousands of years? He would need a lot more information before he made any decisions he decided, but that was for tomorrow when his head was clearer and didn't feel as if it was stuffed with cotton or some other soft substance.

For right now he was going to bed and hopefully, he wouldn't toss and turn. Spencer had barely climbed into bed after draining the tub and turning off the bathroom light when he was pulled under like a stone thrown into a river.

Spencer immediately started to dream and he saw what his life could be like if he accepted the Hotchners offer. He would be blissfully happy and content with his life that it would feel almost surreal for a long time. He would live for thousands of years and be incredibly happy for all that time. He would be loved, he would be cared for, he would be spoiled, any desire he had met and also many he didn't know he had, fulfilled. He would have many children over the centuries and he would make a very good father, much better than his own had been, someone who never tried to force his expectations onto his children. Somewhere in his sleep Spencer knew that his father loved him, but humans often had expectations for their young a lot of times that the children themselves did not have and sometimes it was hard for parents to accept the fact that their child had different dreams to their own.

Scenario after scenario played out in his mind, scenarios of a happy, secure, safe future where he and his mates faced every problem together and most of those would be fairly minor. He saw himself playing with his children and it didn't matter if they were Aaron's biologically or his own as he still loved them unconditionally. He saw his many children and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren surrounding him all looking a few years younger then he did, all of them happy and wishing him and his mates a happy anniversary.

After awhile, he started to see a sad and lonely future where he had rejected the Hotchners offer and had regretted it from the minute he had done so, but it had been too late then, because he had walked out thinking them lunatics and the Hotchners had moved away nearly immediately before he could come to his senses and realized that he loved them both, even if that was in different ways.

By the time he woke up several hours later it was after two in the morning, but he knew what his decision must be. His head was clearer then it had been all night and he knew why that was.

"Thank you for helping me see what I could have lost," Spencer whispered to the somehow charged air.

There was no response at least not verbally, though the air seemed to lighten considerably and Spencer took that as a you're welcome.

Spencer climbed out of bed and walked to the door opening it and walking out into the hallway. He knew where the master bedroom was even in the dark, but the Hotchners had left the hall light on for him, just in case. Spencer felt a nice warm glow at their thoughtfulness, something he hadn't ever really experienced, except from his mother in his life.

Spencer peaked into the master bedroom and saw that both were sleep so he hesitated, but then he remembered Aaron's words to him before leaving him in the guestroom and so he paused no longer, because he knew he would be welcome, even though it was after two in the morning.

Spencer walked quickly, but carefully to the foot of the bed and finally climbed up over it, settling himself in between Aaron and Harper before immediately falling asleep again, more happy and content then he had ever felt in his life.

He couldn't wait to surprise Aaron and Harper with his decision in the morning.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Well, good morning," Harper said grinning widely when she woke up to find Spencer sleeping facing her.

"Yes, good morning," Aaron said smiling when he saw that Spencer was in bed with them.

"We certainly didn't expect you to have climbed into our bed in the middle the night," Harper said.

"Hoped certainly, but expected no," Aaron said.

"So what caused you to change your mind?" Harper asked.

"I'll tell you over breakfast," Spencer said smiling, as he kissed Harper good morning, putting his whole heart into it.

Harper accepted the kiss and kissed him back with equal passion.

"I'll just start cooking and I can get dressed afterwards," Harper said grinning rather dazedly once the kiss had broken. "I'll soon have breakfast fit for a king all ready to serve.

"Hey! Where is my good morning kiss?" Aaron asked playfully.

"Right here, silly," Harper chuckled, as she and Aaron kissed each other good morning once they met over by the bathroom door.

Spencer watched this smiling not feeling at all jealous that Aaron had Harper's attention at the moment and in fact, he felt a wave of contentment wash over him.

"I had better go fix breakfast, before we get to distracted," Harper suggested smiling.

"I suppose so," Aaron said, as he released Harper reluctantly.

"Well, if you don't want breakfast..." Harper offered smiling, "then I suppose we can get involved in other activities."

"I for one want breakfast, I'm starving," Spencer said, his stomach growling at just that moment.

"Me too," Aaron said.

"That's what we all get for skipping dinner last night," Harper chided gently smiling. "I'll have something fixed up in a jiffy."

Harper headed downstairs to fix a big breakfast for her two mates whistling softly as she went.

Harper true to her word soon had breakfast on the table for her two men.

"Well, you're certainly in a cheerful mood this morning," Spencer said smiling, as Harper had been whistling softly the whole time she cooked.

"I have to agree, as usually she doesn't whistle while she cooks," Aaron said smiling, as Harper placed a big plate before him with bacon, scrambled eggs, sausage, grits and toast no more than half an hour later. She filled Spencer's plate next and put it down in front of him before filling how own.

"So you going to tell us why you ended up in our bed?" Aaron asked after he had taken a few bites of his delicious breakfast. Breakfast might not be gourmet, but it was certainly well-prepared and that was all that mattered.

"Does that mean you've reached a decision?" Harper asked.

"It does, but I admit I had a little help reaching a decision so quickly," Spencer said.

Aaron and Harper listened attentively as Spencer explained about his soaking in the Jacuzzi for a long time and how the pros and cons kept circling in his head. Explained how he had dropped off to sleep immediately and deeply when he feared he would toss and turn his mind refusing to shut down, as that had always been a major problem for him. Explained about how dreams had immediately started, ones that were clearer then normal and that he remembered completely as soon as he awoke. He told them about how he had seen dreams of his future with them and how he knew he would be deeply happy and content, something he hadn't ever felt, except for short stretches of time, not even as a child. He explained how after he was shown a happy, safe and secure future until that had ended and he was shown one where he had rejected their offer. He told them how they had left the city immediately afterwards before his mistake could be corrected and how miserable he had been because of his rash decision.

"After that, I would've had to be an idiot to turn down your offer. I was shown exactly what my future would be a like if I were to do so, just because I didn't believe what you told me and trust me, it wasn't pretty," Spencer shuddered. "I closed myself off from everybody, even my family and became basically a hermit. No one could help me, not even Whitney who I'm closest to since we're the closest in age. I spent my life regretting my rashness and was a sad, lonely, bitter hermit for all of it."

"That sounds awful," Harper said, shuddering.

"Yes, it does," Aaron said, just preventing himself from also shuddering like Harper and Spencer had just done. "As much as our emotions can hurt us it would be even worse to not have them at all. Emotions are what helps us form connections with other people, our family, our spouses or just our friends. Emotions are what help us form the bonds of friendship, companionship and love. Without them humans wouldn't be able to dream and all those inventions that make like easier or cures for various diseases that we have now would not exist. So many wonderful things would not be here because humans had no imagination."

"Inventions like paper to the latest scientific breakthrough, that help us when we're ill, would not be reality," Spencer said.

"No paintings, no art, no great stories, no people falling in love with each other. Sex would be a chore with no enjoyment from the act and would only be done to produce children, so the human race wouldn't die out completely," Harper added. "Nothing to help someone relax after a hard day of backbreaking labor. Nothing to prevent a woman from dying giving birth because of some complication. None of all those medical inventions that help humans all live long, healthy lives."

All three people in the kitchen shuddered at the possibilities that danced in their heads.

"It would be a very grim and hopeless future," Spencer realized.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the human race just died out after awhile if the future we've described ever came to pass," Aaron said.

"People who have no hope, feel no love and have just work and more work to look forward to with no time or desire for enjoyment would kind of fade away," Spencer said. "It's happened in the past from what has been discovered about them. Hell, humans might not even have discovered how to make your basic mattress to make their rest more comfortable. It might not seem that most things that we have now took at least some imagination and inspiration, but they did or they wouldn't be here."

"They would have no desire to fight if some alien species suddenly invaded them, because humans would now have no hope of possibly winning, nor the technology to put up a fight," Harper said.

"Let's change the subject to something else," Aaron suggested. "What we are talking about is never going to happen so there's no point in continuing to discuss it. We should talk about the fact that Spencer has agreed to join us permanently."

"Now that's definitely a more cheerful subject to talk about," Harper agreed smiling happily, as she leaned over the table enough to kiss Spencer's cheek causing him to blush because Harper was a very beautiful woman. She was also his, his and Aaron's.

"So where do you think my dreams come from?" Spencer asked. "I've never believed in seers, even if I know intellectually they're real."

Research had been done hundreds of years ago now that proved that seers could indeed see the future, but then of course, there was also a lot of charlatans out there, ones who made a great deal of money off peoples gullibility.

"Well…" Harper said trying to figure out a way to explain what she believed. Unfortunately, Spencer was a man of logic and science not precisely of extrasensory power.

"Just tell me," Spencer calmly suggested.

"Harper thinks that it was the gods, probably Ilithyia, that created the Immortal race in the first place," Aaron explained knowing how Harper thought by now and it wasn't even that he disagreed with her.

"The gods can control such things," Harper explained, "though they rarely interfere in the lives of Immortals or mortals unless necessary."

"Ilithyia, likely knew it was necessary to interfere in your case knowing that you weren't a man that would accept such an explanation easily," Aaron said. "So she's likely the one that prevented you from making that mistake you told us about, the one way you rejected us out a hand and never had a chance to correct your error."

"She's probably the one that cushioned your emotions the other night," Harper added.

"How do you know my emotions were cushioned as you put it?" Spencer asked.

"You didn't react like Harper and I thought you would," Aaron explained. "Both of us know enough about human psychology to know how people will react most of the time depending on the situation and also personality."

"And we know you on an intimate, emotional, mental and physical level. In other words, we know you in every possible way and how you will react to most situations. Your first instinct would have been to deny what we told you and to leave thinking we were quite insane or at least delusional," Harper said. "You wouldn't have believed that we loved you enough to last the rest of our lives, an eternity, even if you believed our explanation about Immortals in the first place. You would have gone with your head rather then you're heart, which is why we both believe that Ilithyia smothered your emotions."

"You believe she did so, so I wouldn't react like normal," Spencer realized. "Reacting like I normally would, as I'm a man of logic, would've been a terrible mistake in this case. Mom often warned me that making decisions on logic alone was often the wrong choice, but I never really took her advice to heart, because feelings can hurt you, while logic can't."

"Logic is all well and good, but without the emotional component, you're nothing more than an organic computer and computers don't have feelings, not even flesh and blood ones," said Aaron.

"Mom has said something similar on many occasions and so has my sister Whitney. I think I'm finally beginning to realize that they were right," Spencer said slowly. "I know I love you more than I've ever loved anyone including Maeve who I very nearly got engaged to. I thought I loved her at the time, but now, I realize that we would've divorced at some point unless we decided to stick it out and be miserable."

"Maeve will always have a special place in your heart and that's just fine," Aaron said calmly. "I certainly had women before I met Harper that I was more than very fond of and in fact, loved, but not as deeply or completely as I do Harper, since she is my mate and they weren't."

"There are all types of love in the world, and a lot of those are very shallow and weren't meant to last forever, not like the love I have for you and Aaron or you and Aaron have for me," Harper said.

"Still, shallow or not it was love, even if it was only meant to last for a brief stretch of time," said Aaron.

"What about Jeremy and Brooke?" Spencer asked suddenly. "They've been dating a long time, almost as long as we have and for Jeremy that's never happened before. He's had a few relationships but none of them have lasted more than three or four months," Spencer said, then a thought came to him and he was sure he was correct in what he was thinking. "Jeremy is Brooke's mate."

Spencer was sure that he was correct in his statement and it was soon confirmed.

"Well, you sure did figure that out fast," Aaron said admiringly causing Spencer to preen a little, something he almost never did, but the genuine admiration in Aaron's voice made him do so.

"So Brooke and Jeremy are mates then," Spencer said. "Is that usual to have two people from the same family as mates to two Immortals?"

"Not really," Harper said. "In fact, we are not really sure it's ever happened before, just that it could have and probably has somewhere in the world."

"Well, at least Jeremy isn't going to die on me in a few decades," Spencer said.

"That's only if he accepts Brooke's offer," Aaron said. "Immortals have been rejected in the past, always by a mortal as I'm sure you can guess."

"And what happens when an Immortal is rejected?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Depends really on the personality of the Immortal in question and also if they already have a mate. Some cope better than others when they're mate rejects them. In Brooke's case our twin bond will help her, although it won't make up for the loss of her mate," Harper said.

"Nothing can make up for the loss of a mate, nothing," Aaron said vehemently, then seemed to force himself to calm down and added in a more even tone. "Brooke would have the support of not only Harper and I, but also her entire family."

"Some Immortals can't handle it and they take their lives," Harper added. "So it really depends on their personality, their mental fortitude and how strong they are emotionally."

"You can't really predict how an Immortal will take the loss of a mate as they do go insane occasionally," Aaron added.

"They have a psychotic break," Spencer said.

"Probably," Harper shrugged. "There's no way to know for sure though, unless you know an Immortal personally that went around the bend."

"It makes sense if that's what happens as Immortals are still human after all with all a human's frailties," Spencer said. "Some humans are very frail mentally and emotionally while others are much tougher."

"How do you think your brother will respond once Brooke reveals Immortals to him?" asked Harper with no little anxiety, because if Jeremy rejected her sister she would be miserable for the rest of her existence. Having the love of your family was different from having the love of a mate.

"It's hard to say," Spencer considered. "Jeremy is very intelligent, but he's not as much a sci-fi fan as I am, so the concept of Immortality will be even stranger to him as it is to me, as he won't be as familiar with the concepts of a sci-fi world or about things like Immortality. I think that he'll want to believe her, but his brain is much like mine, which is logical and will want to deny that Immortality is real."

"So what would you recommend?" Aaron asked. "I for one want to see Brooke happy, as she's been rather sad and depressed for decades now, though she tries her best to hide it."

"Why?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Well, you see, I met Aaron just as I reached 30, the day after my birthday actually, though I saw him in a restaurant the night before. Reaching 30 is important for Immortals, because they stop aging completely, they are considered mentally and emotionally mature," Harper explained. "It really needs to be celebrated and in most families this happens. It is considered a rite of passage, much like turning 18 or 21 is to those that are mortal."

"Meeting your mate, so early is rather unusual," Aaron continued the explanation. "Harper was lucky in that respect, because usually you don't meet your mate for at least a couple hundred years and a lot of times it's much longer. I waited over 500 to meet one of mine."

"So you're saying basically that Brooke was lonely, because she hadn't met her mate before she met my brother," Spencer said.

"Yes," Harper agreed. "I always had Aaron and before that my family, so I never had a chance to get lonely or depressed, but Brooke wasn't that lucky. Brooke and I are older then we look, though not as old as Aaron of course, so my sister has waited a long time to meet the man that was meant for her. Jeremy's rejection will shatter her and nobody will be able to put her back together again, not completely anyway. In fact, the only thing that will is Jeremy's acceptance that he is Brooke's mate and his agreement to be turned Immortal."

"You're the one that knows your brother best so you know the best approach to take with him," Aaron said.

"Well..." Spencer said thinking about it. "I think that we need to tell him here, in this house with all of us present. I'm his brother and he trusts me completely, so if I say something is real then he'll believe me, but it wouldn't hurt to have a demonstration."

"Which we still haven't given you by the way," Harper said, as she calmly picked up the knife she had been using on her food and calmly slashed her palm.

Spencer stared at the deep wound in shock and then watched, as it began to close rapidly so that in less than 15 seconds all that was left was blood.

"Wow! That was really spectacular! I know you said you heal fast, but I didn't expected heal that fast."

"It all depends on how serious the wound is," Aaron said calmly, as he handed over a paper napkin to his mate, so that she could wipe her palm before the blood dried. "Much more serious wounds take longer to heal. It's not like we can't die, we are just extremely hard to kill."

Spencer watched Harper wipe her palm clean and when she showed him her hand a few seconds later there wasn't even a scar, much less an open wound.

"Well, you've convinced me considering I saw you slash your palm very deeply and saw it heal in just a few seconds. Medical technology now can heal a wound much faster than it could even a hundred years ago, but certainly not that fast," Spencer said. "By the way, where is Brooke this morning I would think she'd be up by now."

"Brooke is a very late sleeper," Harper snickered. "She likes to sleep as late as she possibly can, but in this case she stayed over at your brother's and I have no doubt that they made love before going to sleep."

"She's been practically living over there in the last few months and is barely home," Aaron added smirking. "I haven't seen her this happy in a long time, so it's not like Harper and I have a problem with it."

"She's a big girl she can make our own decisions and she's not going to turn Jeremy Immortal by having sex, since she's female, as she doesn't have the right equipment," Harper shrugged.

"Well, I didn't even know that your sister was practically living with my brother," Spencer smiled. "It's not really like Jeremy at all, you know. To have a female stay over all night, unless they are one of our sisters."

"If you've seen them together you know that they love each other deeply," Aaron said. "Brooke is being very cautious about telling him about Immortals, but I'm going to advise her that she needs to tell him soon. Keeping such a secret from him for too long is not a good idea, which is one of the reasons we decided we were going to tell you sometime in the next few months and would have if you hadn't figured out something was up on your own."

"Which you accepted much more easily than either of us believed you would," Harper said.

"That was due to outside interference," Spencer said.

"We know and we are grateful," Aaron said.

"Very grateful," Harper agreed smiling widely, taking Spencer's hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Do you think that outside interference will happen to Jeremy?" Spencer asked.

"Neither one of us can really predict what Ilithyia will do, as her actions are always unexpected. It is certainly possible, but I'm not sure how likely it is," Aaron said.

"There's just no way to say for sure," Harper said.

"Well, I'll certainly help in anyway I can, as I want to see my brother happy and Brooke to," Spencer said. "Of course, having my brother also Immortal is a secondary consideration."

"We want them both happy too," Harper agreed.

"I haven't seen my brother this happy in years ever since he was about 17, so I'd like to encourage that if possible," Spencer said.

"Bad break up?" Aaron asked.

"The worst," Spencer agreed not going into detail.

"As soon as Brooke comes home we need to talk to her about telling Jeremy as they've been dating long enough now that hopefully, he'll accept Brooke is telling him the truth," Harper said. "I think the idea of telling Jeremy in this house is a good one and I'm going to try to convince Brooke to do so, but she can be stubborn. She might be determined to go her own way and I hope it doesn't go wrong if she does."

"Brooke is very independent and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but occasionally, it does get in the way of good logical thinking," Aaron told Spencer who nodded.

"I have to admit that Brooke never has liked asking for help, even from me," Harper said. "I'm pretty independent myself, so we're the same in that way, but I know that Aaron will help me if I only ask him to and so will anybody in my family."

"Brooke has never really had anyone to help her temper that independent streak of hers," Aaron said.

"I never had a chance to become set in my ways, because I met Aaron early in my life," Harper added smiling. "He's helped me temper my independent streak from the beginning."

"Well, Jeremy's up to the challenge, as he can be pretty stubborn himself," Spencer said smiling.

"Aaron and I have had that impression," Harper chuckled. "I believe that my sister has finally met her match in the stubborn department."

"So is it usual for an Immortal to have more than one mate?" Spencer asked.

"It's not very common actually," Aaron said. "It does happen every few centuries, like with Harper's dad, but only when Ilithyia takes an interest in a particular Immortal."

"Aaron and I were rather surprised when it turned out we had another mate," Harper added. "The two of us bonded on the same day we met and when we still felt that swirling blankness in our souls afterward we knew that we had another."

"We, of course, didn't expect to meet them for a few centuries and in that we were correct," said Aaron.

"Did you expect me to be mortal?" Spencer asked.

"We kind of did actually," Harper admitted. "Mostly because the odds of ours second mate also being Immortal were very high."

"Why were they high?" Spencer asked puzzled.

"Because Immortals don't have children very often," Aaron told Spencer. "Every 70 to 75 years."

Spencer blinked at that looking shocked and then asked, "Are you telling me that Immortals can only have a child every century?"

"I'm afraid so unless you have the favor of Ilithyia," Harper said. "My parents for example did have her favor and were able to have children every five years if they did nothing to prevent it. Also my mother Penelope Garcia Rossi was able to have twins every time she got pregnant and that wouldn't have happened without the favor of Ilithyia. It wouldn't have mattered that twins ran in her family if she and my father didn't have Ilithyia's favor."

"Also Harper and I have always had twins as well, but only every 70 years or so," Aaron said.

"So you have Ilithyia favor as well?" Spencer asked.

"Well, yes, but not as much as Harper's family, since her mother and aunts could get pregnant every five years if they wanted too," Aaron said.

"I wonder why Ilithyia favor some Immortals and not others or why they can't get pregnant more frequently," Spencer wondered.

"The second part of you question is easier to answer then the first," Harper said. "Really, if you think about it you'll figure out why the gods fixed it so Immortals couldn't have children too often."

Spencer thought about it and then the logical answer hit him. "Because Immortals can be just as stupid, foolhardy and irresponsible as mortals can be and since they are unlikely to die in childbirth and because they live basically forever barring some kind of deadly accident Ilithyia probably saw that this was the only way to make sure that they didn't overrun mortals."

"Exactly," Harper agreed smiling proudly, causing Spencer to preen. "Not every male Immortal is responsible just like you guessed and just because they can't get a mortal female pregnant, doesn't mean that they can't be irresponsible and start turning them Immortal by having sex with them repeatedly without a condom. Female Immortals have it a little easier and the only way to turn someone Immortal is by giving them their blood. This is the method we were going to use for you and your brother."

"At least as far as you know," Spencer suggested.

"Yes, that's true," Aaron agreed calmly.

"As to the first part of your question why Ilithyia favors some Immortals over the others we think it has to do with the fact, that some just go about their lives quietly, but with honesty and integrity. They give to charity, because it's the right thing to do, not because it will impress those who are wealthy and well connected for all the wrong reasons. They are willing to help someone who's in genuine trouble with no thought of reward or even being thanked, since a lot of people can be rather thoughtless and ungrateful. They are also willing to defend those that can't defend themselves," Harper said. "My father is exactly like I've described, one of the best men I know and in many ways Aaron is very similar to him."

"So kind of the white knight type," Spencer said thoughtfully. "Someone willing to defend the weak and helpless from those that would take advantage of them, someone willing to help them out and someone who is generous and kind and genuinely interested in helping people outside their own family."

"That's it," Aaron agreed smiling.

The three of them sat at the kitchen table and chatted for quite awhile before they loaded the dishwasher and headed upstairs to get showers and get dressed for the day.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	18. Chapter 18

Part 18

Spencer and Aaron stood outside of Jeremy's apartment. It was several weeks later and Brooke against the advice of her sister and Aaron had wanted to tell Jeremy alone all about Immortals, but she had apparently bungled the explanation, because Jeremy had thrown her out of his apartment and told her never to come back. Brooke had come home in tears and was absolutely inconsolable and Aaron, Harper and Spencer all knew that nothing would fix it, except Jeremy himself. Harper had stayed with her sister and ordered them to fix this, so they had obeyed.

Spencer used the key his brother had given him after he moved in to open the door without even bothering to knock and he and Aaron entered the apartment.

"Bedroom," Spencer said quietly. "If I know Jeremy he's probably drunk, as that's the way he drowns his sorrows. He was only 17 the first time he got into dad's liquor supply and drank himself absolutely insensible. It was after his break up with Angela, the one I told you about, the one that he believed was the girl for him."

"I bet he was grounded," Aaron said with a smile, even though his eyes were serious.

"For the whole summer," Spencer agreed. "Dad was absolutely furious."

Spencer led the way to the bedroom and indeed Jeremy laid there completely naked and it was obvious he was three sheets to the wind.

"Jeremy! You moron! Get up!" Spencer ordered.

"Spencer! What are you doing here!" Jeremy exclaimed staring blurrily at his brother.

"I'm here to keep you from making a terrible mistake," Spencer told his brother, as serious as a heart attack.

"How did you find out I had just broken up with the girl of my dreams?" Jeremy asked, not listening to what his brother was saying. "She was just perfect until she tried to snow me. Immortals, hah!"

"Aaron could you get a glass of water out of the kitchen please?" Spencer asked calmly, but with determination in his gaze that made Aaron glad that he was not the one that Spencer was determined to help. This was a side of his mate that he had never seen before, but then he suspected that it was a very rare occurrence, because mostly Spencer was a pretty quiet type that didn't like confrontations.

However, when Brooke had come home with a tear streaked face looking devastated and they had learned what had happened Spencer had been determined to fix the situation. He wasn't about to let his brother make such a terrible mistake, he had told Harper and him. He still vividly remembered his dream where he had made a similar decision and how it had turned him into a bitter hermit. The images he had been shown still made him shudder in horror whenever he thought about them and he wasn't about to let what had nearly happened to him happen to his brother.

Aaron had immediately agreed to accompany him leaving Harper with her sister, as her twin was the best person to offer her comfort now and also to make sure that Brooke didn't do anything stupid.

Aaron did as bid and was soon back with a glass of water and also a bottle of Hangover Begone, which was the safe drug to take when somebody had drank to much. It wasn't a complete cure all, but it helped a lot to neutralize the alcohol in somebody's system. He and Spencer had stopped by the drug store on the way to Jeremy's apartment to pick some up.

"Here take this," Spencer ordered his brother handing him the pills that Aaron had taken out of the bottle and then the glass of water.

"Why?" Jeremy asked, as if he didn't understand what his brother was telling him, but considering he was as drunk as a skunk this wasn't surprising.

"Because if you don't I'll call mom and you know what she'll say," Spencer told him and fear immediately came into Jeremy's eyes.

"You wouldn't," Jeremy protested.

"Try me," Spencer suggested with steel beneath his tone. "Trust me, you don't want me to inform mom of your latest stupidity because you know what she'll say. Mom adores Brooke and I bet you never even gave her a chance to fully explain before you threw her out of your life. Take the pills! Now!"

Jeremy finally obeyed and put the pills in his mouth and then drank some water so he could swallow them.

"Now, we'll wait for the pills to take effect before you and I are going to have a serious conversation and you will listen to everything I have to say," Spencer told his younger brother. "You will not say a word as I explain exactly what you nearly did and then you will go and apologize to Brooke. After that, it's up to you to make it up her, do you understand me Jeremy Jason Reid? What you did to the woman you love is deplorable and you will do your best to correct your error or I will make sure you regret the day you were ever born. I wouldn't be surprised if she refuses to accept your apology, considering she's at her sister's house, so devastated I'm surprised she arrived home without having a wreck. We're no longer the little children that can get away with the kind of behavior you displayed, as you are 32 years old and certainly old enough to listen to somebody that you love without flying off the handle. Did you even give her a chance to fully explain? I'm betting not, considering I know you have a temper and you don't listen very well when you think that somebody's trying to pull one over on you."

Jeremy didn't seem to be paying attention at first, but then the Hangover Begone he had taken started to take effect and he looked rather upset. His head was still hurting a little, but the Hangover Begone had done its job, so that it was no longer pounding and was starting to fade rapidly to where only a little pain remained.

"Are you sober now?" Spencer asked, as he had watched his brother carefully. "Are you ready to listen without flying off the handle?"

"Listen to what?" Jeremy asked. "All I want to do is forget about it is I just broke up with the girl of my dreams."

"And as I told you earlier you're an idiot and a moron," Spencer told him. "I bet you never even gave Brooke a chance to fully explain as I told you just a couple minutes ago. No, I bet you just flew off the handle and threw her out of your apartment refusing to listen."

"Why should I have listened? She's just trying to con me and you know how I feel about that," said Jeremy. "You have to remember what happened with Angela when I was 17."

"Let's go into the living room and let me explain a few things to you," Spencer said in a calmer tone.

Jeremy obeyed knowing that his older brother wouldn't leave until he had said his piece so he might as well get it over with.

Jeremy sat in his favorite recliner and prepared to be lectured, but Spencer along with Aaron sat on the couch and Spencer begin to explain.

"Wait! How can you believe this crap?" Jeremy asked about halfway through his brother's explanation.

"Because I've seen a demonstration," Spencer told his brother calmly. "I saw Harper take a knife and cut into her palm so deeply that she would've needed stitches and yet it healed in just a few seconds. I was sitting within a foot of her when she did so and I guarantee you there was no trickery involved. The knife was very sharp I promise you. She showed me her palm after the wound had healed and all that was left was streaks of blood. It was as if she had never cut herself with that very sharp knife. I know what you're hearing sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, but it's real. You and Brooke are mates and are meant to be and unless you correct your mistake very soon she will probably attempt to commit suicide, as Harper, Aaron and I cannot keep our eye on her every second of every day. Eventually our attention would lapse and then she might do something that was irreversible, as all it takes is a moment of inattention."

"But they are Immortal," Jeremy said not understanding.

"We can still die though," Aaron said speaking for the first time. "It's more of a limited Immortality. We are not gods that can't die at all, we just don't age from the time we reach 30 and are very hard to kill, because we heal so fast. If someone hit us in the correct spot and sliced an artery we would bleed out just like a mortal would unless somebody managed to put their hands over the wound long enough for it to heal. We can heal from many wounds that are seemingly fatal for a mortal, but we can still die. We also can't get any serious illnesses or even something simple like a cold. If I told you how old I really am you would be amazed."

"The way to get Jeremy to believe is to give him a demonstration," Spencer said calmly.

"I can do that," Aaron agreed immediately seeing the look of disbelief on Jeremy face. "I'll be right back."

"How can you accept this so calmly?" Jeremy asked, as soon as Aaron had headed off in the direction of the kitchen

"I've had a few weeks to get used to the idea," Spencer answered honestly. "I figured out that something was wrong about my friendship with Harper and Aaron, as I figured that wasn't all it was. We were close friends sure, but Harper had been dropping hints left and right, that she would be open to something more and the funny thing was that Aaron seemed to be okay when we spent time together alone as he had to be aware of the gigantic crush I had on his wife. When I confronted both of them about it at their home they admitted that they had been slowly courting me, but they had wanted me to figure out the clues they had been leaving for myself."

"They must've known that you just would've dug in your heels and refused to cooperate if they had tried to force the issue," Jeremy said.

"They're very observant and intelligent and trust me, both are much older than they actually look," Spencer said. "When Aaron told me his age I was amazed and Harper is considerably younger than he is, even though she doesn't look it. We both know that its appearances that matter and they both look of similar age so people aren't going to comment."

"So when did they admit that they weren't mortal?" Jeremy asked.

"Doing that same conversation, but I didn't react like they expected me to and it was as if my emotions were being smothered to stop me from making a terrible error. I slept over in the guestroom as they were rightfully concerned that I would have a wreck in my condition with everything that was on my mind. I expected to toss and turn, but I dropped right off to sleep and then I started to dream about a future with them. You know how it is in dreams, how you do not really know you are asleep or that you are dreaming. The dream showed me a happy, safe, content future where I would be far happier with them in my life then I would be if I rejected their offer. After all those happy scenes it showed me a future where I had done what you did to Brooke and believe me it wasn't pretty," Spencer shuddered and Jeremy saw remembered fear and pain on his brother's face. "I basically became a hermit not ever interacting with anyone I didn't absolutely have to and I wouldn't even listen to any of my family. I never had a chance to correct my error as Aaron and Harper left the city immediately, leaving no forwarding address or a way to contact them. They have since explained that to be in the same city as their mate knowing what they had lost would have been too painful so they would've packed up and moved elsewhere."

"They were just dreams though," Jeremy pointed out logically.

"Stop being so damn stubborn," Spencer told his brother in a no nonsense tone, looking rather annoyed and exasperated something that you couldn't usually be said about him. "Do you really think I'd be telling you this if I believed they were just dreams? They were clearer then real dreams for one thing. I actually knew who I was and that I was dreaming. Besides, I remember them very clearly after I woke up and I still haven't forgotten them. It's been several weeks since that night that ought to tell you right there that they weren't really dreams, but visions. Now normally, I'm no seer, but both Aaron and Harper believe that it was Ilithyia that sent them to me so I wouldn't make a terrible mistake."

Jeremy said nothing, but Spencer shot his brother a exasperated, annoyed look.

"Are you really willing to give up the best thing in your life, just because you refuse to accept Brooke for herself?" Spencer finally asked and that was when he saw the first crack in his brother's armor.

"But I'm not Immortal," Jeremy tried to explain his fears. He would grow old and Brooke would remain young.

"There is a way to change that as Immortals having a mortal as a mate is not exactly uncommon," Aaron said having been listening from the kitchen doorway.

"There's a way to turn me Immortal?" Jeremy's face showing his disbelief, but there was also relief and hope mixed in there as well.

"There's actually two different methods and we're going to use the second one for you because Brooke's is female."

"Why does that matter?" Jeremy asked.

"Because the first method involves sex, a man's penis entering the female over a period of months until she absorbs plenty of her mate's seed. Our semen carries our genetics, our lifeforce within it and it will slowly transform a mortal into an Immortal," Aaron explained.

Jeremy blushed at Aaron's quiet explanation. He couldn't disbelieve Spencer's friend, because of the way he said it was so matter of fact and his brother hadn't even blushed, which meant that this was not new information to him.

"What about the second method?" Jeremy asked.

"It has to do with drinking blood. Our blood is ancient and powerful and only a little will do the job," Aaron said. "This was the method we were going to use for both you and Spencer, since Harper and Brooke don't have the right equipment."

Jeremy made a face at that and Spencer or Aaron for that matter couldn't really blame him.

"However, Harper and I were discussing not too long ago about trying to insert blood into a vein with a syringe and see if that had the same effect. Neither one of us is sure if it's ever been done that way before, though it's possible it has been," Aaron said and saw relief cross Jeremy's face.

"If it can be done that way I'd rather that method," Jeremy said.

"So would I," Spencer agreed. "However, if drinking it is the only way to turn me Immortal, then I'll do so because I love Harper, so much and have practically from the second I first saw her. I figured that my crush would remain unrequited because it was obvious that she and Aaron were married and very much in love. It never even occurred to me that I could join them as more than one husband or wife is allowed in today's society."

"As for Spencer and I all that is between us is a friendship that will deepen over the decades until we're just as close, just without the sexual component," Aaron said. "Now, about that demonstration."

Aaron calmly brought forth the knife that he had gotten from Jeremy's kitchen and slashed his palm just like Harper had done a few weeks ago so Spencer's brother could see and believe what he had been told.

Jeremy watched as the blood started to drip down his palm and how the slash in Aaron's palm healed nearly immediately. Since Spencer watched this calmly and didn't look worried in the slightest, Jeremy figured he had seen it before just like he had said he had a few minutes previously.

"Is this enough proof for you or do you need to shoot me dead and then when I revive after a few minutes will you believe?" Aaron asked calmly with a little smile.

Jeremy looked shocked at this, but then he figured that considering his earlier reaction he couldn't really blame the man.

"No, I'm convinced, as nobody heals that fast not even with the newest medical technology," Jeremy said.

"That's almost exactly what I said when Harper demonstrated for me a few weeks back," Spencer smiled, though it was tinged with worry. "Are you ready to go apologize to Brooke or do I need to shake you until you see sense? As it is Harper wants to kill you with her bare hands, so if you don't correct this soon you can expect her to show up at your door. Neither Aaron or I would be able to stop her nor would we try to."

Jeremy gulped and had a feeling that he would be making up for his mistake, his loss of temper for sometime to come.

"I've really made a mess of things haven't I?" Jeremy asked looking guilty.

"Yes, you have, but it's correctible," Spencer told him. "All you have to do is go tell Brooke that you apologize and that you accept being her mate and that you love her, because you know you do. Now get dressed and brush your teeth, take breath mint, as you don't want to see her with alcohol on your breath and then we'll head over to our house."

"I do love her," Jeremy said.

"I know you do and if you had just listened to her instead of overreacting none of this would've been necessary. Now get dressed, so that you look halfway decent and like you didn't spend the whole night getting as drunk as possible," Spencer ordered firmly.

"Yes, sir," Jeremy said contritely rising from his favorite chair heading to the bathroom.

"Go on and hurry as fast as you can, Brooke is waiting," Spencer urged his brother who hurried his steps.

"That was well done," Aaron said quietly putting a hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"Thank you, but I know my brother and he has a flash temper, but it sizzles out nearly immediately. I wouldn't be surprised if he regretted what he said to Brooke nearly as soon as she was out of his sight, but by then of course, it's too late," Spencer explained quietly.

"So he has a temper, but it doesn't last," Aaron said and Spencer nodded.

"Not for most things no," Spencer said. "I have a temper to just so you know, but it's not as close to the surface as Jeremy's is and it takes a lot to really upset me. Or maybe I should say that Jeremy's usually good about not losing his temper, but he doesn't like to being made a fool of."

"Most people don't," Aaron said. "But you're saying that, because there's a particular reason that he doesn't like people who think they can fool him."

"It goes back to that girlfriend he had when he was 16," Spencer explained. "She fooled him for several months and he was made a fool of by some boys who never liked me or my siblings. To them we were just know-it-alls, that is all of us did well in our schoolwork, tutored on the side and didn't slack off like so many children do. They saw this as the perfect way to get some revenge. It tore Jeremy up for a long time, so much so that he didn't date for years after that. What tore him up so much is that Angela, the girl he thought he loved, was really brutal when the deception finally ended. She tore down any self-confidence he might have had and it messed him up for a very long time."

"I'm really sorry for Jeremy and now I understand why he doesn't like to be made a fool of. It doesn't mean that Brooke isn't a great deal of agony right now, but at least I understand his reasons better," Aaron said. "I understand why he didn't really give a Brooke a chance to finish her explanation. I know he genuinely thought that she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes just like this Angela did years ago. You get hurt like that once you and certainly remember and learn from the experience, so I do understand his reaction."

"So do I, which doesn't make it okay, but at least he has a genuine reason why he reacted like he did," Spencer said, but fell silent when Jeremy finally came back into the living area fully dressed.

"Ready to go?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, I am," Jeremy said looking nervous and neither Spencer or Aaron could blame him for that, considering he was about to face a very protective sibling in the form of Brooke's twin. "Let's get this over with."

Jeremy walked towards the door dragging his feet looking as if he was going to his own funeral rather then to make up with the woman he loved.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	19. Chapter 19

Part 19

"It'll be okay, Brooke," Harper soothed her sister, as she snuggled with her in her sister's bed.

"It'll never be okay again," Brooke sobbed. "I so much wanted to tell Jeremy by myself, but I should've listened to you, Aaron and Spencer, but I felt like you were just sticking your noses in where they didn't belong and now I can see that you were all just concerned about Jeremy's reaction. You were right to and I can now admit that. Now, that I've lost him."

Brooke let out a heartwrenching sob that just tore at Harper's heart.

"Shh! It will be okay Brooke," Harper said in a soothing tone. "All is not lost."

"What do you mean?" Brooke asked looking that her sister, having to lift her head from where it had been buried in her pillow to do so. The look of hope on her face was earthshattering and pulled at Harper's heartstrings.

"Aaron and Spencer went over to his apartment," Harper explained. "Spencer says that Jeremy has a flash temper, but that it usually fizzles out quickly. He also doesn't like to feel like he's being taken advantage of or that the wool has been pulled over his eyes and you have to admit the fact that Immortals are real would be hard to swallow for most people."

"That's the reason that you wanted to tell him when you guys were present," Brooke realized. "Spencer would know how his brother was likely to react and you could've stopped this from happening if only I hadn't lost my temper, hadn't let my independent streak take over. I saw your offer of help as you interfering in something that was none of your business."

"It might've stopped it from happening," Harper corrected. "There's no guarantees though."

"But it's certainly a more likely possibility if I had allowed you to help me explain all about Immortality to him," Brooke said.

"Possibly," Harper allowed. "But Spencer says that Jeremy's been fooled before and he likely would've reacted much the same way, even with all of us there to help you. At least, there would've been a bunch of hurt feelings before he calmed down, though we certainly wouldn't've allowed him to leave the house, not while he was mad."

"Well, nobody likes to be made a fool of, though I thought Jeremy's reaction was rather extreme," Brook said.

"Everybody reacts differently to different things," Harper said and Brooke nodded knowing this from experience. A person's emotions could be rather unpredictable and everybody had their triggers. Jeremy's was apparently that he didn't like to be made a fool of and he had assumed without really giving her time to explain that she was just somebody that was trying to do so.

"Do you think that Spencer and Aaron will be able to convince Jeremy to at least listen?" Brooke asked.

"I do, because Spencer grew up with him after all and he knows all of his brother's faults and how he'll react to most things," said Harper.

"Which was one reason you suggested that you all be present when he was told about Immortals," Brooke said.

"Well, yes, but I knew it was possible that you wouldn't listen to anybody wanting to do it yourself. I can't really blame you for that actually, but you also forgot that this is an era where most people don't believe in things that are supernatural like it was back when our father and Aunt Emily were born. This is an era when most people only believe in things that they can see and touch and feel the textures of things. I know people write books about supernatural things all the time, but that's mainly for entertainment for the most part," Harper said. "You forgot that Jeremy was raised in the modern world and such a concept as Immortality would've been strange to him at the very least, so really you should have expected his reaction."

"People just don't believe in the power of God today not even the one they claim to worship," Brooke realized. "They don't believe in anything supernatural."

"Some do, but not enough," Harper agreed.

The two sisters were silent for awhile but Brooke felt hope for the first time in hours. She just knew that her two brother-in-law's would make her mate see reason, especially Spencer, since he was Jeremy's brother and would know him better than anybody else, except his own family.

Brooke had believed that she knew him to, but his flash of temper had caught her totally by surprise.

"I don't believe how much I bungled it," Brooke said finally with a still tear streaked face. "If only I had listened to you and your two mates..."

"What's done is done, there's no point dwelling on it," Harper told her sister in a gentle tone. "Making mistakes is a part of human nature, and despite the fact that we're basically Immortal, doesn't mean we're not still human to. After all, originally we were human before we were granted our great gift. I know it seems like you and Jeremy will never get together, but you have to have faith. I have faith that Aaron and Spencer will make Jeremy see reason, Spencer in particular. I have no doubt that at this very moment Spencer is giving his brother the lecture of his life about how to treat a lady and about not overreacting before he even gets a full explanation."

"But still, if I had handled things differently..." Brooke began.

"Let's not dwell on what ifs, as it never did anyone any good to do so," Harper said. "There are no guarantees that even if you had handled things better that Jeremy still wouldn't have reacted like he did, because as I said we're still human beings and humans have emotions. Some people tightly control their emotions no matter what they see or hear, but most don't and Jeremy is one of those."

"So you're saying that just because Spencer has control over his emotions and his brother doesn't," Brooke said.

"Oh mostly he does. He doesn't go beating up people who annoy him for instance, but everybody has their triggers, as Jeremy proved just a few hours ago," Harper said. "Apparently, his is being lied to or at least believe he's being lied to."

"I already knew that and I don't understand why I didn't take that into consideration when I thought about telling Jeremy more about myself," Brooke said.

"Because you were thinking with your emotions rather then with your brain," Harper told her, as gently as possible. "You were thinking like a woman in love. There's nothing wrong with that, it was just the wrong approach to take in this case."

"I see that now," Brooke sighed.

Neither twin had a chance to say anymore as they heard the front door opening and the sound of voices.

"Jeremy!" Brooke exclaimed, as she recognized his very distinctive voice.

"Stay here," Harper ordered. "Jeremy is the supplicant, because he's the one that lost his temper before you could even fully explain. He needs to sincerely apologize to you and you are not to forgive him until he does. You need to make sure he's really sorry for treating you the way he did or he might do it again at some point. Jeremy needs to learn not to overreact to certain situations and I'm sure his brother would agree."

"Once the bond is complete though I won't have to worry about him treating me badly," Brooke said.

"He's more likely to cherish you that's true, but that doesn't mean you should forgive him right away, because it'll teach him a lesson about controlling his temper in the future," Harper said. "Do you know what I'd do if Aaron or Spencer for that matter lost their temper at me for no reason whatsoever?"

"What?" Brooke asked extremely curious.

"I would make them work for forgiveness," Harper said firmly. "I would make them beg, I would make them plead, I would make them do things that normally they would never do. Of course, it would all depend on what the argument was about, what caused it, you know the circumstances and whether or not it was totally pointless. If Aaron for example just lost his temper at me for no reason whatsoever then I would make him work to redeem himself."

"You do argue occasionally," Brooke said eyeing her sister.

"Yes, we do, but they're never pointless like the one that you had with Jeremy. In fact, technically, you didn't even argue with him. He just lost his temper and threw you out of his apartment and his life for no reason. He wasn't even willing to listen and there is a large difference between losing your temper, and doing something so harebrained then there is in playful arguments that make life a little bit more exciting. If Jeremy doesn't learn his lesson about losing his temper for no reason at all then one day he might lose his temper at the wrong person. Even if he doesn't, he still needs to learn a lesson about how to treat you, because you don't want it to carryover, when you happen to have kids."

"You're saying that he might lose his temper with them and they would be not mature enough to understand and he could physiologically damage them," Brooke said.

"Exactly," Harper agreed. "If it only happened once or twice then no, then it likely wouldn't damage any children, but if it happened on a regular basis just because he was frustrated or stressed... Of course, once they were older they would understand that it's just the way that their father reacted to stress, or frustration. Not that that would make it right, but it would possibly at least damage their relationship with him."

"You don't think you react with violence?" Brooke asked a little worriedly.

"No, but he will probably yell at them for no reason or you. You are mature enough to handle it, but any children wouldn't be. Of course, whenever he lost his temper it would fizzle out quickly but that wouldn't make it right," Harper said. "I'm not claiming that you will never lose your temper with each other or argue, as that's impossible, but there is a difference between a mutual argument and him just letting his temper loose on you for no reason, just because you said something he didn't like or want to hear. I mean he didn't even ask you to provide proof, which would've been the mature and logical thing to do."

"I think I understand," Brooke said never having considered her relationship with her mate in this way, but since she'd never had a mate before she's supposed it was understandable. She had often wondered what her mate would be like, but other than that hadn't really dwelled on it.

"If you ever need advice you know how to contact me as I suspect you'll be moving in with Jeremy sometime in the next few months."

"I've got to make him work for his forgiveness first," Brooke grinned.

"That you do, as you can't allow him to walk all over you," Harper agreed smiling. "Now, why don't I go down and be the buffer between Jeremy and you and I'll come up and get you when I think he has begged enough to see you, after I've blistered his ears with a lecture."

"You can be so cruel," Brooke said admiringly.

"I can be when somebody has hurt my sister for no reason at all. There was no reason for Jeremy to lose his temper like he did or to throw you out of his apartment without even letting you finish your explanation. If he had been acting like a reasonable adult and he should have, because he's 32 now, which is past the point that Immortals stop aging, he would've asked for proof before taking the action he did."

"Some Immortals have quick tempers too," Brooke said and Harper nodded in agreement.

"And it often gets them in trouble, especially in how they react to some situations just like it will Jeremy someday if he's not careful," Harper said. "If he doesn't learn to control it, no matter the provocation."

Brooke considered her sister's words and then nodded knowing that Harper was right in everything she had said, but then, she was very rarely wrong about this sort of thing.

"You stay up here and get dressed," Harper said. "I'm just going to pop over to my room and get dressed right quick, though I think I'll save the shower for later. It's not going to hurt Jeremy to wait for a few minutes. In fact, it'll make him even more nervous then he already is and that's not necessarily a bad thing, as it'll make him behave better and think about his actions."

"Yes, ma'am," Brooke said smiling saucily and Harper was happy to see that her sister was feeling somewhat better, though she knew that Brooke wouldn't be back to her usual self until after she and Jeremy made up.

Harper left the room where she had spent considerable time getting Brooke to calm down. Jeremy was going to have to work on getting her forgiveness as well, simply because he had hurt her sister unnecessarily. Normally, she was the forgiving sort, but not when it came to her family, especially her sister.

Harper entered hers, Aaron's and Spencer's room that was right across the hall and got dressed quickly fixing her hair before she headed downstairs.

She found Aaron, Spencer and Jeremy in the more formal living room instead of the more informal den, which told her that Aaron at least had known that his wife would be rather upset at Jeremy for hurting her sister, but then Aaron knew her well considering they had been mated for several centuries.

"Where is Brooke?" Jeremy asked trying to hide his nervousness but the look Harper shot him told him that she knew.

"Why don't you gentlemen go fix us some snacks and drinks?" Harper suggested, though from her tone it was more of a order. "I believe that Jeremy and I need to have a private conversation."

Jeremy gulped at that and Aaron and Spencer exchanged glances before they rose to do Harper's bidding without a word.

"You can't just abandon me," Jeremy protested.

"You'll be fine, Harper won't you any permanent damage," Aaron said.

"You know you would have to face her wrath once we got here, as you hurt her sister for no reason after all," Spencer said calmly, though not without a hint of sympathy.

"We couldn't stop this even if we wanted to as Harper might be pretty reasonable, but when you hurt somebody she loves deliberately... Well, you'll just have to take your medicine like a grown man."

"You are 32, so you should be mature enough to be able to take Harper's temper without complaint," Spencer added before he and Aaron and headed for the kitchen.

Once they were gone Harper simply stared at Jeremy standing several feet in front of him with her hands on her hips.

"Now, you and I are going to have a conversation about hurting my sister," Harper finally said after several minutes of watching Jeremy try not to squirm under her rather fierce gaze. "You ever hurt my sister again, just because you don't listen to what she has to say and I'll have no problem with twisting your balls until they come off in my hand. I won't bother to use anything to numb the pain either, as I would want you to feel every ounce of pain that you put my sister through.

"Brooke was absolutely devastated when she got home and I have to say I'm surprised she didn't have a wreck on her way here, not with the tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. Thank god, for autopilot. What you did to her was uncalled for and if you're not aware of that you had better become aware of it real fast or I promise you, you will regret the day you were ever born if you ever hurt my sister like you did again. You may be her mate, but she's my sister and I love her and anyone who hurts her, especially someone who supposedly loves her will feel my wrath.

"I'm not claiming you won't ever argue as we were once humans after all and I'm not claiming you will never hurt each other's feelings, but you've got to learn to control that temper of yours, to listen when she talks to you instead of just assuming she's trying to fool you. Yes, I'm well aware that it's our experiences that make us who we are and I know you went through something that makes you not like being supposedly taken advantage of as Spencer implied as much although he didn't go into details.

"You will have to work really hard to earn my sister's forgiveness, as you don't deserve to be forgiven right away considering that you're the one that lost your temper for no reason. You're the one at fault here and I know you're aware of it. You will learn to listen and not just assume that someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes from now on, because if you don't one day it's going to get you in serious trouble, trouble that no one can get you out of. Do we understand each other to Jeremy Jason Reid?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jeremy said hanging his head in shame. His brother had told him some of the same things, but it really sunk in when Harper did so, probably because they weren't related.

"Good! Make sure you remember that or I promise you I'll cut your balls off and burn them right in front of you. I can do it too, because I'm not your mate, Brooke is. Brooke might not be able to physically harm you not without your consent anyway, but that doesn't mean I can't."

Harper decided to let him suffer the thought of not having any balls and therefore, not being able to have any children.

Jeremy visibly shuddered and Harper could see she had made her point.

Harper deliberately let the silence lengthen, but finally she relaxed her stance a little and Jeremy seemed to take this to mean that the lecture was over.

"Be warned that until you redeem yourself in my sister's eyes you are in my doghouse and you will be watched very carefully how you interact with her whenever you're with me or Spencer or Aaron."

"Yes ma'am," Jeremy said meekly.

"You just better be glad I don't inform dad of your stupidity, because he'd be out here in a heartbeat to beat you to a pulp for hurting his little girl, even though she's centuries old. He's very old-fashioned in that he believes in protecting his daughters from anything that could hurt them, including boys who should have known better then to lose their tempers for no cause. By Immortal standards you would be considered fully mature and therefore, fully culpable for your own actions."

Jeremy winced at Harper's words and felt even more guilty then he had a few minutes ago, which he was sure had been Harper's intent.

"Don't even get started on what mom would do for hurting her little girl," Harper added once Jeremy had time to absorb her words. "You might ask what she can do and I'd tell you that she might not beat you up physically, but she sure can get rid of your bank account, all the money you've earned opening your bookshop. She'd make you destitute with just a few taps of her keys and so could I for that matter if I was given an incentive to do so, so make sure you keep that in mind next time you lose your temper for no reason."

"Yes, ma'am," Jeremy said wincing again, as he imagined being totally destitute, with no money in the bank.

"Everything okay?" Spencer asked, as he and Aaron came back with drinks and snacks.

"Everything's fine. See, I didn't kill him and I think your brother understands the grievous error he made when he lost his temper with my sister," Harper said. "Isn't that right Jeremy?"

"That's right," Jeremy said his voice coming out as more of a squeak. "I regretted my actions, my loss of control, just as soon as Brooke left anyway and Harper just reminded me I need to learn to keep my temper, unless the situation requires me to lose it."

"That's exactly right," Harper said her expression relaxing a little. "I'll go get Brooke now as she should be dressed and ready."

Harper left and Jeremy relaxed completely once she was gone.

"Harper put you through the ringer, huh?" Aaron asked quietly amused. Harper had always been fierce about protecting those she loved and it wasn't like Jeremy hadn't deserved it. Her temper, her need to protect those she loved, was one of the things he loved most about her.

"Yeah, she did," Jeremy admitted looking ashamed. "I deserved it though and I know it."

"That you can admit that is the beginning of wisdom," Spencer told his brother patting him on the shoulder in quiet congratulations.

"You never lose your temper and I've never understood how you do it," Jeremy said, eyeing his brother. "You never even lost it as a child, when those kids at our high school were harassing you or when dad made it clear he was disappointed in you."

"Spencer's emotions are more internal than yours are," Aaron told Jeremy. "He keeps things inside himself instead of losing his temper like you do, which isn't very healthy, but it's just how he was made. He does have a temper and he can lose it, but it takes a lot to trigger it. My emotions are much like his are, more internal than merely wanting to punch something or at least rant and rave, so believe me I recognize the signs. You simply express yourselves differently that's all and brothers or not it doesn't mean you're the same."

Jeremy or Spencer for that matter didn't have time to answer as Harper returned with Brooke in tow.

"Now, you two will sit on the loveseat there," Harper ordered, pointing at the very comfortably appointed loveseat on one side of the living room. "You will talk to each other and as for the three of us we'll be right over here, not close enough to hear your conversation so long as you keep it down, but close enough to keep an eye on you."

Brooke didn't even bother to protest Aaron noticed so Harper must've worked this out in advance with her sister. Aaron couldn't help, but notice that Brooke's eye were red from crying, even though she had tried her best to cover it up with a heavy use of makeup. It was no surprise really as Brooke had come home with a heavily tear streaked face and he knew other females who had been rejected by their mate that had cried themselves insensible for days. Of course, sometimes those situations were corrected before the female Immortal killed themselves, which was possible. Most of the time a mate's rejection, which was always a mortal, ended in tragedy, because those Immortals had no one to help them through their grief until the situation could be corrected. Aaron knew that Brooke was very lucky that she had a caring family close by.

Brooke led Jeremy over to the love seat her sister indicated and gestured for him to sit.

Harper and Spencer took seats on the other side of the large living room.

"That was well done," Spencer told Harper quietly. "Aaron and I came in on the tail end of your lecture. It's exactly what Jeremy needed to get his head screwed on straight. He'll remember the lecture both you and I gave him for sometime to come."

"That's a good thing if you ask me," Aaron said. "It'll only help Jeremy in the long run if he learns how to control that temper of his, during any type of situation. Of course, sometimes it's prudent to lose your temper, but it depends on the situation as we all know."

"Well, hopefully, my lecture as well as Spencer's will have the effect required," Harper said.

"It will, because you really gave my brother a lot to think about, as normally, it's not like Jeremy at all to lose his temper like that. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally..."

"Still, it'll be a good lesson for him," Harper said and Aaron was in complete agreement with that. "I have a temper to, but I use the BDSM techniques to help me drain stress and release my anger before I go off at the wrong person. Aaron is very good about stopping when I say my safe word as you know," Harper added, as an aside to Spencer.

"Yes, I know, as I've watched some of those sessions," Spencer agreed.

"I would never be able to harm her physically in anyway without her agreement, because mates cannot hurt each other at least not against their will," Aaron said.

"And the same goes for Aaron and I or you for that matter," Harper added.

"You just have to continue to be gentle with me a little longer until I'm Immortal," Spencer said relishing the idea of getting heavier into the BDSM scene. He knew now that Immortals healed very quickly, which is why Harper and Aaron could be much rougher on each other then humans could be with each other's consent of course. Oh, some humans enjoyed the rougher form of BDSM and so long as a built up a tolerance to it then that was okay, but there was also a dangerous side to the BDSM scene, as sometimes people went to far rather by accident or design.

"Well, you'll certainly fit in well with us," Aaron said smiling.

"We didn't dare hope that our other mate would be into the BDSM scene," Harper added. "We thought we might have to introduce you to the joys of it."

"Well, I wasn't as heavily into the BDSM scene as you guys are, but that was more for my own safety then lack of interest. Now, that I have a partners I can trust I won't mind trying some of the more dangerous techniques. When I'm Immortal like you are I'll heal just as quickly as the two of you always do," Spencer explained.

"Yes, you will, but you'll have to give us permission every time to do what we want to," Aaron reminded Spencer who nodded.

"I know," Spencer promised, "as we have used some of the safer techniques on me and I had to give my permission for you to do them, but I trust you as amazing as that is for me, particularly this soon, I trust you to not go to far and to stop when I say my safe word."

"Trust is essential not only in a marriage, but also when you're heavily involved in the BDSM scene," Harper said.

"Trust is, just as an essential in a relationship to," Spencer said. "I know we're not married yet, but I'm assuming we will be at some point."

"Yes, I'll be happy to marry you, mostly because your parents will expect you to and won't want you living in sin, even though you are officially doing that already."

"Won't your parents expect the same?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Not necessarily, as they'll consider it my decision," Harper said. "However, there'll be pressure from the women of the family, particularly my Aunt JJ to get me to tie the knot and it's easier just to give in then it is to fight my mother and my aunts on it. My father genuinely won't care one way on the other, as for one thing you don't have a prominent position like Aaron did when we first met as he was about to be second-in-command at Foster's bank, the one in New Orleans. It was important to keep up appearances so we dated for awhile, even though we had already completed the bond between us and then Aaron proposed."

"Most people outside your own family don't even know you exist so it doesn't matter so much if you don't want to go through a full legal ceremony," Aaron added.

"I won't be able to get out of it," Spencer sighed. "My mother is going to insist on a full-blown wedding, believe me, she is. She'll have many associates, friends and professors from the university she teaches at that she'll want to invite. My father also has many associates and friends, and also many prominent clients that he'll want to invite to his oldest son's wedding."

"Your father didn't seem very fond of the idea of you marrying someone that already has a husband," Harper said remembering the one time she had met the Senior Reid. She hadn't been very impressed with Spencer's father, though she did love his mother who was genuinely warm and welcoming and didn't seem to care that Harper and Aaron came as a set.

"I'm sure you could tell he is against group marriages," Spencer said. "He thinks only couples should be allowed to get married, so no, he isn't too fond of the idea and he wanted me to break up with you. I promise you I told him very quietly that I was an adult and he had no control over what I said or did or who I married. I told him I was making a good life for myself. I think I shocked him actually, because I'm not usually one to stand up for myself."

"I'm very proud of you for standing up for yourself," Aaron told Spencer with a smile. "Trust me, it takes a lot to standup to someone you love. I know you love your father, even if he has his own ideas of what you should be like."

"That's he understatement of the century," Spencer snorted. "I won't say that my parents don't love each other, but I doubt they love each other as deeply as we do, as my father in particular, just doesn't seem capable of it. Love is kind and not judgemental and unfortunately, dad is a very judgmental person and has many opinions on various subjects."

"Sometimes it's just really hard to let a child grow up," Harper said.

"I know it is, but you have to know when to cut the apron strings and I'm old enough to make my own decisions. This means that if father cuts off contact with me or we are in a state of cold war at least then so be it," Spencer said determinedly.

"He loves you, he just has different ideas of what you should do with your life," Aaron said.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not about to break up with you just to make him happy, though I know he'll be shocked that we got engaged once he finds out," Spencer shrugged. "I'm actually surprised he didn't offer to pay you off to stay away from me."

"I don't think even your father would go that far," Harper said her tone doubtful.

"He probably wouldn't, if only because mom would have his hide if he tried it and she found out. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a background check done on both of you though, probably trying to find something to tell me so that I'd break it off," Spencer said cynically.

"He won't find anything as we have our records redone every hundred years or so and that was just done before we moved here," Aaron said. "We keep it basically the same, since it's easier to remember your history if it actually happened, just in case someone asks you about it. All we do is change the dates and also change anything that could possibly bring the attention of the police not that there are many of those, but sometimes you can't avoid trouble no matter how much you try to. Your father will find that both Harper and I had happy, but ordinary childhoods, went to college to get our degrees and then met, fell in love and married."

"Your father won't find anything I promise you," Harper said.

"Harper's really good on the computer just like her mother and her sister," Aaron grinned affectionately.

"So you redo your backgrounds every hundred years," Spencer said.

"Sometimes more often, depending," Harper said. "It's the only way we can live in this really high tech society. It's more of a precautionary measure just in case somebody does a background check on us like your father likely did."

"Yes, I understand that," Spencer said knowing how high tech society had become.

"We'll have to start doing yours and Jeremy's too, though not while your parents are still alive," Harper said.

"I say we just move elsewhere in maybe 20 or 30 years and gradually lose contact," Aaron suggested.

Harper nodded while keeping an eye on Brooke and Jeremy who were sitting on the other side of the living room talking quietly, while holding hands.

Brooke looked much better, Harper noted with an approving look.

"They're doing just fine, I've been keeping my eye on them," Aaron told Harper seeing where she was looking.

"It's not really usual for Jeremy to lose his temper like that, although I do admit he has a pet peeve against someone trying to pull the wool over his eyes, with good reason," Spencer said. "I will agree that he overreacted, but that's just my brother when he feels he's been made a fool of. It doesn't help that they dated nearly a year before Brooke tried to tell him all about Immortals, because it means that Jeremy believed he had been made a fool of for a long time. He wouldn't react well in those circumstances, which has since been proved."

"Because of that incident that happened when he was 17?" Harper asked.

"Yes, I told Aaron a little bit about that and I'll tell you later when Jeremy's not so close," Spencer promised.

"I can wait that long," Harper said smiling.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	20. Chapter 20

Part 20

"I'm really sorry I lost my temper," Jeremy immediately apologized softly, kissing her cheek as soon as they were relatively alone. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to what you had to say. I have no excuse really and all I can say is I have a real problem about somebody making a fool of me, especially for a long time. I thought that you had betrayed me and that you didn't love me as much as I do you."

"Apology accepted, but you still have a lot to make up for," Brooke told him. "You'll have to prove to me that you mean that apology, as I'm just not going to take it at face value."

"I expect nothing else," Jeremy said looking shamefaced. "Your story was just so fantastic... but I should've at least let you finish your explanation before I lost my temper."

"And I should've taken the advice of my sister and told you here with her, Aaron and your brother present. I didn't listen, because I wanted to tell you myself, but your brother knows you best and so this could have likely been prevented. There still might have been hurt feelings, but it would've been sorted out much sooner. I'm afraid I have an independent streak a mile wide and while Harper does to it's been tamed by being married for a long time now," Brooke said. "I would say that both of us are at fault, not just one of us."

Jeremy eyed Brooke saw she was being sincere so he nodded.

"I would never lie to you," Brooke promised, guessing what the look meant. "You don't ever lie to your mate as that just causes problems. Your mate is the one person you can trust absolutely and you'll soon learn this for yourself. I'm never once lied to you when all the time we've been together, though I admit I didn't tell you some things. It's never easy to tell a mortal that Immortality is real, especially not in today's society that isn't based around the supernatural."

"I never even thought about that," Jeremy said quietly. "About the fact, that Immortals must have a hard time telling a mortal that Immortality is real."

"We don't tell most people for obvious reasons, though mortals have learned about it in the past if that Immortal considers them trustworthy, but that was mostly centuries ago than now, back when more people believed in the supernatural," Brooke said. "When the mates of our race are mortal a lot of times they are rejected. You don't want to know what happens if that occurs, not always just sometimes."

"Spencer mentioned something about putting you on suicide watch and about how it was possible that a minute of inattention from your family and you would be dead. Aaron said that while it's difficult to kill an Immortal it was still possible," Jeremy said.

"It is a very difficult thing to do, but there are ways," Brooke said.

"So Aaron said and I have to admit that my heart stuttered at the thought of you committing suicide," Jeremy said.

"I wouldn't have done that, but I never would've been truly happy again," Brooke said. "I would never kill myself, because I'd never do that to my sister or to my family. Still, an Immortal without their mate, especially if they've been found, but have rejected that Immortal, well, let's just say it's rather difficult to live without them. I'm strong enough to survive, but some Immortals are weak mentally and emotionally and so they see death as the only way out. An Immortal's life is not complete without their mate beside them or in my sister's case mates. If we hadn't gotten back together I would always feel a swirling blankness that indicates a mate had not been found or had rejected that Immortal."

"So you're saying you feel kind of swirling blankness when you're mate has not yet been found," Jeremy summarized. "So us getting together will get rid of that blankness."

"It will once you're fully Immortal and then we have sex for the first time, as the bond will be complete then. Now, normally, it's not that way, but since I'm a female things are a little different," Brooke explained. "For Aaron and Harper that swirling blankness disappeared the first time they made love because both of them were Immortal, which meant the bond completed instantly. Now for my father, my mother along with Aunt JJ they were both mortal when my father found them, so it took months for them to absorb enough seed for them to be Immortal and once they were, the bond completed, but it was much slower. I suppose you could say it happened in stages and strengthened every time they made love, which needs to be at least once a day as consistency matters."

"So most Immortals have more than one mate?" Jeremy asked.

"Actually, no they don't," Brooke told him. "It only happens once every few centuries and only to some Immortal that Ilithyia takes an interest in, that she believes deserves the honor. My family was surprised that Harper had more than one mate, but since the bond between my dad and his three mates is centuries old, I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising, that someone else in our family got the honor."

"So you don't expect us to have another mate?" Jeremy asked and Brooke shook her head.

"Just because it happened to my twin it doesn't mean it will happen to us to, so don't expect it. We don't do everything together, even if we spend a great deal of time with each other," Brooke explained.

"I'm kind of glad about that because I would be insanely jealous," Jeremy finally revealed.

"No, you wouldn't be because once you're Immortal the bond would prevent jealousy if we did happen to have another mate," Brooke told him. "It's why Aaron doesn't mind when Spencer spends time alone with Harper and vice versa. Of course, in my father's case, anyone of his mates could get jealous, because they are all female and say he's spending time alone with Aunt Emily, just as an example. You would think that mom or Aunt JJ would be insanely jealous whenever he did, because he and Aunt Emily grew up together and so they have been mated the longest, but they don't and they just do their own things until the two of them return from their romantic date or weekend or whatever."

"I have a hard time imagining that," Jeremy admitted.

"You'll see once you are fully Immortal," Brooke told him. "This doesn't mean that you won't get insanely jealous if some male tries to come onto me, in a restaurant or bar or anywhere, but you wouldn't do so if we did happen to have another mate. However, the bond will also let you know that you can trust me to be faithful, because I won't ever want anyone else unless we have another mate of course, so you won't worry about those guys that come onto me like most males normally would. Well, you'll see, as I can explain it all I want to, but you won't really understand it until you're Immortal yourself."

"I suppose I should tell you why I reacted like I did," Jeremy said finally.

"Only if you want to," Brooke offered. "I won't push you to talk about it if you'd rather not."

"You deserve an explanation," Jeremy said. "I want you to understand that there is a reason I reacted like I did.

"Alright, go ahead," Brooke said, as she snuggled in close to him in a gesture of comfort.

"There was this girl Angela LaStrobe. I was just crazy about her," Jeremy said. "I was 16 and you know how hormones go crazy around that time. I asked her out on the date and she accepted and I thought we were the perfect couple. I was actually thinking that maybe we could get married after college, as I was sure she felt the same way. It turned out however, that some of the boys at school that didn't like me and our siblings, Spencer in particular, wanted to get revenge on us. They didn't like us, because we always did well in our studies, raised our hands in class and were teachers pets and they considered that showing off, even though it was never meant that way.

"We were always the ones to raise our hands in the first answer questions and it didn't help that Spencer had skipped several grades ahead. Those boys, though not all of them were jocks, saw it as an opportunity to get some revenge and Angela, well, she didn't like us either so agreed to play my girlfriend. Angela was from a rich family, generation money and she was also a spoiled, rotten brat, though I didn't see that at the time. To her we were nobody, even though our parents made a very good living as dad's a very successful lawyer and mom's a professor at Las Vegas University as you know.

"This game went on for more than six months and when the charade finally ended Angela shattered any self-confidence I had in myself with just few well chosen words while the ones who had orchestrated it laughed themselves themselves silly glad to see one of the Reid's brought down so low. We had never done anything to them, not really, except do well in our studies and also help some kids that were struggling. I suppose we showed ourselves to be intelligent and hard-working and some people, especially teenagers that didn't bother to study hard and get good grades don't like that.

"We didn't try very hard to blend in, because things would've been easier if we had. I know things would've been easier on my older brother if dad had agreed to send him to a school for those that really super intelligent, but of course, dad being dad wanted all his children to go to the same high school he did not caring that Spencer had special needs and required advanced courses to truly excel in his lessons. Sure, he skipped grades and could've gone to college at 14, simply because his birthday's in the summer, but while we all love our father he made some serious errors in judgement and even mom couldn't convince him to change his mind. I think he just wanted his kids to be of normal intelligence instead of geniuses and while Spencer is the one with the highest IQ all of us have genius level intellects. Dad has the Reid stubbornness and what he wants he usually gets no matter who it hurts and he doesn't often change his opinion."

"Were you physically bullied?" Brooke asked.

"No, the teachers prevented that at least, but there was nothing they could do to stop the verbal bullying, as that kind of thing just goes on in any high school and there were over 2000 kids that attended the same time Spencer did," Jeremy said. "Whitney and I could've skipped grades to, but mom forbade it after she learned some of what Spencer was going through from the other kids and I can't really blame her for that."

"So Spencer and his mother are pretty close I take it?" Brooke asked, wanting to learn as much as she could about her soon-to-be brother-in-law.

"Yeah, they are, as they've always shared a special bond," Jeremy said with a soft smile. "I've often thought that my dad was jealous of that bond, even though it's just parental one."

"Yeah, that kind of thing happens all the time," Brooke agreed. "Harper and I are really close to our father, as he just has a way with little kids, you know? We love our mother to and we certainly don't have the problems with either of our parents that you seem to have with your father. On the other hand, our parents have plenty of experience raising children, because they had many before we came along. Still, we adore our father, both of us, as he just has this way about him, you know?"

"I bet your father or your mother for that matter didn't have expectations that they tried to shove down your throat," Jeremy offered. "Our father of course, wanted all of us to be lawyers, even if we went into different fields, while our mother just wanted us to be in careers that made us happy. Our father is an attorney in a whole family of attorneys, though they didn't necessarily go into the same field. Our grandfather was an attorney, our great-grandfather, our great-great-grandfather and so forth. Now our grandfather didn't necessarily expect any of his grandchildren to go into the same field, but our father sure did."

"So your father went to school to become a lawyer, because he wanted to not because he was forced," said Brooke.

"Exactly, as grandfather on dad's side said as much. I'm not sure where dad got the idea that we had to become lawyers, though I suppose it is kind of a family tradition, especially for the oldest son."

"Family traditions are meant to be broken," Brooke said.

"I've always thought so," Jeremy agreed. "A parent should never try to force a child into a particular career where they would be unhappy at best, but it happens far too often. I remember, Dad urging Spencer to become an attorney, but Spencer was resisting in that quiet way of his. Spencer doesn't like confrontation, but he has ways to get his own way when he's really determined. He wasn't about to let dad force him into becoming a lawyer, so he hunted for scholarships just in case dad refused to pay for his college education. Dad did pay for his education in the end, but he made it clear he was unhappy with my brother's choice. Spencer's been a disappointment to him his whole life and I've never understood that at all."

"No, I don't understand that mindset either, as children often grow away from what their parents want and go their own way. If Spencer had wanted to be a lawyer it would've been one thing, but to try to force him into a particular mold is just wrong," Brooke said.

"Well, mom was really proud of him, as he got about six different degrees and that's all that mattered to my brother, since he and mom are close," Jeremy said quietly. "My brother has never cared about dad's opinion, though he doesn't usually openly defy him, so I suppose that makes him stronger on the inside then it would appear if you didn't know him well."

"It takes a lot to defy your family and their expectations," Brooke agreed. "Luckily, Harper and I never had to, as they wanted what was best for us and let us choose what that was."

"Narissa, did want to become a lawyer and she's doing a good job so far, though she's just getting established," Jeremy said.

Brooke knew that Narissa was one of Jeremy's youngest sibling and had a twin sister named Nyssa.

"Still, your dad did support you in the end, so that's something anyway," Brooke said.

"Yes, it is," Jeremy agreed. "I still find it amazing that such things as Immortals exist."

"I know how hard it is to believe, especially in today's society," Brooke said squeezing his hand understandingly. "I should have approached the subject in a different way then I did, I realize that now. I was naive and should have realized that being Immortal would be considered impossible by most mortals, unless they had a very unusual outlook about life. I should have listened to my sister as I said earlier, but I got it in my head that I had to do it by myself and because I did I nearly lost you."

"We both need to work on our faults," Jeremy said. "I never want to lose my temper at you for no reason again. You know I drank myself into a stupor once you were gone and I never do that and in fact the only time I ever did was after my breakup with Angela. Considering I was only 17, and it was my dad's good liquor you can guess what happened."

"You were grounded?" Brooke asked.

"For the whole summer and also for part of the school year. Dad was furious and I can now admit he had every right to be. I was stupid, but I just wanted to deaden the pain of Angela's words and her cohorts laughter and at the time that seemed like the best way. Mom also lectured me about abusing alcohol and told me I didn't want to become an alcoholic later in life, someone who drank to much whenever life was stressful. She lectured me about the damage I could do to my kidneys and liver and to the rest of my body, so until I lost my temper with you, I hadn't touched a drop since that one time when I was 17. I won't say I'm a recovering alcoholic, but I won't risk drinking even a beer from now on," Jeremy explained.

"That's probably smart," Brooke said. "Of course, once you are Immortal while you can get drunk, you don't say that way for long and you won't even have a headache afterwards."

"Well, that's definitely something to look forward to, but still, I think I'll stick to soda and coffee," Jeremy said.

"Well, I have to admit I've never been much of a drinker either, though I do like those daiquiris."

"Those don't have much alcohol though," Jeremy said.

"I know, but they do have some," Brooke agreed.

The two kept chatting quietly, while Aaron, Harper and Spencer kept a close eye on them from across the room.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	21. Chapter 21

Part 21

"Well, I think that went well," Spencer said cautiously once he, Harper and Aaron were in their bedroom for the night and Brooke was in hers.

"I thought so too," Harper said calmly, as she kissed Spencer on the lips causing him to blush, as he still wasn't used to having such a beautiful woman pay attention to him in a romantic way. He was sure that eventually he would get used to having Harper as his, but right now, it was still new enough to make him blush every time Harper held his hand or kissed him, even if it was on the cheek.

"Well, Jeremy's not stupid," Spencer said. "He never was, he just has this thing about being made a fool of and considering what happened with Angela I can't really blame him."

"So what did happen with Angela? You said you'd tell me when Jeremy wasn't present," Harper asked.

Spencer told the two of them and both of them listened intently, though Aaron had heard part of it before, but not the whole tale, because there hadn't been time before Jeremy had finished getting dressed so they could come back here.

"Now, I really can't blame Jeremy for the way he reacted, as telling someone about Immortals is getting harder with every passing decade," Harper said thoughtfully. "I'm sure those students don't think that what they did was cruel, but it was in every sense of the word."

"Yes, I agree," Aaron said. "It might've happened 15 years ago, but still I bet you they don't feel the least guilty for what they did. if they did they would have apologized to Jeremy a long time ago."

"They likely don't even remember the incident or if they do they probably have no idea how much it affected my brother," Spencer said. "That's just as well though, because they'd probably torment him even more if they knew. As far as I know Jeremy has never seen them again not after he finished high school, but that doesn't mean one or more of them couldn't walk into his bookstore someday to buy a book."

"I doubt very much that any of them like to read," Harper snorted cynically. "Or if they do they probably like to read the e-book version."

"I admit that not many people appreciate a good hardback a paperback book nowadays," said Spencer. "E-books are just so much more convenient as you can carry your reader everywhere you go. Still, Jeremy does a good business, which ought to tell you that there are some people who still love to read off paper."

"There is certainly enough people who love to feel the pages between their fingers that your brother seems to do be doing well for himself," Aaron said.

"Oh he is. His bookstore's really popular," Spencer agreed with a smile of pride. "So how long do you think it will take Brooke to forgive my brother?"

"I don't really know," Harper admitted. "I told her not to make it too easy for him, because I didn't want Jeremy to make the same mistake twice."

"He likely wouldn't have, as he's too smart for that. Still, it shouldn't be easy, because if he has to work for it then he really will learn a lesson to watch his temper. If he has to work to gain her forgiveness, then that will make him a better person in the long run, because if she just automatically forgave him, just because they are mates then he might not treat her as well as he should at some point," Spencer said.

"I don't think that will happen, because once Jeremy, is Immortal he will feel the bond he has with her as well and Immortals who are mates tend to cherish their other half," Harper said.

"That's true, as I've certainly cherished Harper from the minute we met and vice versa of course," Aaron said.

"We know each other so well now that we very rarely have a serious argument, not that we argued much before," Harper agreed.

"No, we knew what we were getting into going in, as we were both Immortal," Aaron agreed.

"Though we still had to get to know each other, even if we bonded on the same day we met," Harper smiled softly in remembrance.

"So when will you turn me Immortal?" Spencer asked, a question he had been wondering about ever since they had told him their big secret.

"I think we should wait until Jeremy is also ready," Aaron said.

"We know a doctor named Graciela DeWitt, and she's helped deliver every single one of our children, so since we trust her, we should see her first and see if she knows if inserting our blood into a major vein will work. If she's never heard of it being done like that before I'm sure she knows other doctors who are Immortal," Harper said.

"Sounds logical to me," Spencer said. "I can wait until Jeremy is ready as it does make good logical sense to do us both at the same time."

"Only if we are sure it's going to work though," Harper said firmly and Spencer nodded. "If we can't get any confirmation we'll go back to the old way, even though I know that's rather gross."

"I'm sure it will work as the scientific theory behind it is sound," Spencer said. "Still, it doesn't hurt to get confirmation."

"I think it's time that we go to bed, as it's been a very busy evening," Aaron suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Spencer said trying not to blush, as he imagined seeing Harper naked.

"I never said we were going to sleep," Aaron grinned. "I have some energy in me to make love to my beautiful mate before I drop off to sleep."

"I'm certainly up for that," Spencer said eagerly. "I am a red blooded American guy after all and I'm still really young by today's standards."

"Well, I see you've become something of a sex maniac," Harper smiled gently teasing him.

"No, he hasn't," Aaron disagreed. "Spencer is just finally experiencing what it's like to be in love and to be loved in return, something he never had before. At least at one point Jeremy believed he was in love until Angela's deception was revealed, so he has some experience with real love or at least Jeremy believed it was real, even if it wasn't long-lasting, but Spencer does not."

"No, I didn't, not until I met you anyway. I never dated in high school, because I was too young for the other students, as I skipped a few grades and I wasn't ready to date at that time anyway," Spencer agreed. "I've dated some since then, but nothing ever clicked, you know? Then I met you, the single most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I was instantly smitten as I'm sure you were both aware of."

"You weren't obvious about your feelings, but yes, we were aware," Harper said her mouth quirking up in a grin, "and both of us thought it was a very good thing considering what we knew."

"Feelings or not I never would have tried to come between you or join you since group marriages are legal now," Spencer said.

"I never would have allowed you to get so close to us if you weren't our mate," Aaron told Spencer seriously. "We still would've been friends, but I never would have allowed you to see Harper naked or have you join in some of the safer BDSM techniques."

"You never would have allowed him to have sex with me either," Harper teased Aaron.

"Of course not, as I would have killed anybody who dared lay hands on you in such a way if they were not our mate," Aaron said looking fierce.

"I can protect myself you know," Harper reminded Aaron gently. "I do have several black belts in several different martial arts disciplines."

"I know, but it's still my responsibility," Aaron said. "Call me old-fashioned if you will, but that's the way I feel."

"Humans might've changed a lot over the centuries, but some things are still a male's territory," Spencer calmly suggested. "Males have certain instincts and one of those is to protect their mate, though I admit they aren't that strong in most people, not unless you have a type A personality for the most part."

"Well, I definitely have an alpha type personality," Aaron said smiling rather fiercely. "I might keep it under control most of the time, but I can definitely be fierce when required."

"Don't I know it," Harper teased him. "He nearly threw this guy of the Eiffel Tower once because he kept being persistent, even after I kept turning him down. He wasn't really dangerous just an annoyance. When we finally got to the ground floor and exited the Eiffel Tower he still kept being persistent I put him on the ground, using a couple of moves that I had just learned fairly recently at the time. I didn't break any bones, but I could have and the guy certainly stopped bothering me after that."

"Well, you can definitely take care of yourself," Spencer said admiringly.

"Yes, I can," Harper agreed, "but that doesn't mean I don't need Aaron's and now your help sometimes, because some people have stunners that they get on the black market. Now, all people with stunners might mean to do is to rob you and so they knock you out, but they could have much more nefarious purposes."

"Kidnapped for ransom, kidnapped and sold into slavery in some third world country or even off planet," Spencer said listing a dozen things that could happen to someone who had been stunned unconscious. Unfortunately, even in this century in which they lived people still kidnapped others and sold them into slavery, that was mostly people that wouldn't be missed, but occasionally someone that would be.

"Or worse," Aaron agreed grimly. "Of course, we would track whoever had done so to the ends of the earth and beyond.

"Absolutely," Spencer agreed immediately.

"Well, let's head to bed, it's been a long day," Harper suggested smiling rather seductively at both her men.

"Absolutely," Spencer repeated immediately looking eager, which wasn't really surprising, considering that he and Harper had just started having sex with Aaron watching on a regular basis instead of only occasionally. Spencer knew that he was finally feeling what he should have for years, the love of a wonderful woman. He couldn't believe that his father couldn't just accept the fact that he was involved with a woman that was already married and that he loved her with all his heart. His father was all about appearances unfortunately, even though group marriages were quite common and had been around for many decades he believed that they should be abolished. His dad came from a traditional household, one, mother, one father, which might be the problem. He wouldn't be surprised if his dad tried to interfere in the wedding preparations once they finally got around to telling the rest of the family about his engagement, up until the actual ceremony itself. If his dad did that, then he and Harper would just elope and be done with it as this was Las Vegas after all and it was ridiculously easy to get a marriage license here, something his father was aware of.

Since Harper was already married to Aaron he would have to give his full approval for her marriage to another man and would have to sign a document stating that he approved of the marriage of his wife to someone else. Now, if Spencer had been female the opposite would've been true and Harper would have had to give her approval and sign a document stating that she did.

Spencer thought it was a rather sensible precaution to prevent somebody from getting married without the other spouse's full approval or even their knowledge, since legally and ethically the man or woman would have married their other partner first and should have a say in their husband or wife marrying again.

"So when do you want to get married?" Aaron asked Harper.

"I would say wait until after Spencer and Jeremy are Immortal," Harper decided. "We can let Spencer's mother's know, so she can start planning, if that's okay with Spencer, because I'm sure it will take awhile to plan."

"Considering how many people both my parents know I would say so, several months at the very least," Spencer snorted cynically. "Just so you know I don't trust my father to not try to interfere and try to break up the preparations. Maybe I'm overreacting and he wouldn't go that far if only because mom would probably kill him, but while I love him, I'm not unaware of his faults. Unfortunately, our relationship has been on the rocks since I was a child."

"You think he'd go so far as to do things like cancel the flower arrangements or something that your mom ordered at the bakery?" Aaron asked not as shocked as he could be, because he knew some people could be very petty."

"I don't know that he'd go that far," Spencer admitted. "But he definitely doesn't approve of me marrying someone who's already married, even though it's legal nowadays, so long as all parties consent and sign a document saying they do. He's already confronted me once and just because he didn't succeed in changing my mind doesn't mean that he won't try something."

"We can always elope if necessary," Harper said and Spencer nodded in agreement.

"I know, which is why I believe he won't try something like that, because he knows how ridiculously easy it is to get a marriage license in Las Vegas. I'll tell you one thing I wouldn't be surprised at all if mom filed for divorce if he tried something so petty and stupid. I mean it's not like I'm some 18 year old and doesn't have any experience in the world or that us marrying is rushed, because by the time we actually do tie the knot it will probably be at least another year."

"Even if you were 18 you would still be of legal age to get married if you desired to," Aaron said.

"I know and I'm sure dad would try to stop me if I was, but the truth is I'm 36 years old and I'm definitely old enough to know my own mind. Dad doesn't have any hold over my actions anymore not since I was 18 technically."

"He'll probably try to tell you that you're making a mistake," Harper speculated. "That we could possibly want to marry someone like you, unless we had some sort of nefarious purpose, like maybe extorting money from your family. If your father really does think that it's ridiculous since between Aaron and I we have more money then William Reid could ever dream about earning in a lifetime. The one time I met him I wasn't impressed and I'm sorry if that insults you," Harper added in an aside Spencer.

"It doesn't," Spencer promised. "I know very well what my father's like and while I love him this is my life. My mom adores you both and that's all that matters to me."

"There's no point in speculating on the Senior Reid's motives," Aaron said calmly. "For all we know he's just trying to stop his son from getting into a bad situation where he'll be unhappy. Alright, there might be some not so pure motives in there as well, something as simple as him not approving of group marriages, just because he's more traditional, which we already know he doesn't, but maybe the main reason is that he doesn't think that your marriage to Harper will last."

"I suppose it's possible," Spencer said, but there was heavy doubt in his voice. "All I know is I love you both just in different ways and I will not let dad change my mind, because I don't think his motives are all that pure or altruistic and even if they were I'm still an adult."

"Let's all take a shower and get dressed for bed," Harper finally suggested. "Your father's motives, if he does try his best to disrupt our wedding, don't matter. As Aaron said there's no point of dissecting his possible motives, because it won't stop us from tying the knot. Personally, I don't think he'll try anything, even if it's clear he disapproves, because it would damage his reputation as an attorney if he tries to stop his son from finding happiness if it got out and it would because we would make sure it did. Also, it might get out that he disapproved of group marriages and I'm sure he has many clients that are involved in a multiple marriage, so that would further tarnish his reputation and also likely lose him clients. No matter what he tried it wouldn't stop us from marrying anyway, even if we had to move elsewhere to do so, so to trying would be rather pointless and only cause a scene."

"I suppose it's possible I'm projecting, just because dad's been known to interfere in my life before and he's already confronted me once, because he could see where our friendship was heading," Spencer admitted.

"It's possible you are, but still, it's also very possible that you are right that he will try to interfere, as he didn't make a very good impression on me when I did meet him, just like he didn't make a very good impression on Harper," Aaron said.

"You're usually pretty good judges of character," Spencer smiled.

"That comes from our vast experience, as we've been alive for a very long time," Harper said. "Almost every human or Immortal for that matter has at least some prejudices though when it comes to Immortals most of them want their children to be happy.

"Your father's objections might be something as simple as he came from a traditional household as you mentioned a few minutes ago and therefore wants all his children to marry only one other person, probably someone of the opposite sex."

"Yes, I can see that, considering I know he doesn't like multiple marriages and is very prejudiced against them, but he can't do anything about anyone else marrying more than one person," said Spencer consideringly.

"He can't really do anything about you doing so either, even though technically, your only going to be marrying me," Harper grinned.

"Yes, but Aaron is still married to you as well, so you'll be a woman with two husbands," said Spencer grinning as he said it.

"Which is quite common in today's society," Aaron said.

"So it is," Spencer agreed. "You know, maybe he fears, that I'm going to be having sex with Aaron as well as with you," Spencer added after a moment of thought.

The other two considered this quietly and then decided that it was very possible that's exactly what the Senior Reid thought

"Now, that's a possibility that none of us considered until just now," Aaron said.

"It's certainly plausible," Harper added. "William Reid seems extremely old-fashioned and he's not going to ask his son if he's bisexual, as that's not the kind of thing a father asks his son unless they're extremely close and that can't be used to describe the relationship between Spencer and his dad. I would bet that the Senior Reid doesn't really want to know, but it might be one of his major objections to any of his children marrying more then one person of the opposite sex.

"Even if he did ask me I wouldn't answer, because it's none of his business," Spencer said managing not to blush mostly because he was angry and upset. He knew very well that Harper and Aaron might very well be right and so could he, since he was the one that had initially brought up the subject, something that had just occurred to him out of the blue

"You know what your dad is going to say if you don't have a child within the first few years," Aaron said.

"He'll probably demand I get a divorce and marry someone that can give me children," Spencer snorted cynically, as he could imagine that scenario very well. "I wouldn't comply, as there are plenty of options for children, considering I have seven siblings and a couple of them already have kids."

"And not having children nowadays is rather uncommon," Harper added.

"Or maybe we're blowing William Reid's probable reactions all out of proportion, just because none of us like him. Oh, I know, Spencer loves him deep down and he should, but that doesn't mean he can't dislike his father at the same time," Aaron said.

"Or at least some of his actions and decisions," Harper said.

"It's possible that maybe I'm just imagining the worst case scenario and none of what we've talked about will happen. I certainly hope so, as that would be petty even for him," agreed Spencer. "I suppose that I'm so used to dad interfering in my life, that I think he'll keep interfering whenever I am truly happy or when I least expect him to. He did try to stop me from taking the courses I wanted as he wanted me to be an attorney and yes, I know it's tradition, but traditions are meant to be broken."

"It's ridiculous to try and force a child into your own mold," Harper said, unknowing that she was basically repeating her sister's words from hours ago. "A child will grow their own way and to try to force them into a specific career where they'd be unhappy at best is not what any good parent should do, though I know a lot of times at least one parent has expectations for their child that often don't get fulfilled, which just creates misery all around."

"Which I know from experience," Spencer snorted. "So many children aren't strong enough to buck their parents expectations, and end up being miserable."

"That kind of pressure can damage a parent-child relationship just like the one between Spencer and his father and I doubt very much that the Senior Reid realizes the damage he's done to his relationship with his oldest child," Aaron said.

"Yes, dad had expectations for all his children, but I was under the most pressure, because I was the oldest, but the others were to, too varying degrees," Spencer said reflectively, as he remembered his childhood. "I know mom argued with him at least once since they did it out in the open not in their bedroom where it's soundproofed. They argued about the pressure he was putting on me and the others, but mostly on me. I wouldn't be surprised at all if they argued a dozen times or more on the same subject just behind closed doors."

"I wouldn't be surprised either," Harper said. "Mother's tend to be fierce when defending their children, even if it's from their own spouses. Of course, sometimes it's the other way around and it's the father having to defend his kids against the mother who is trying to press her expectations on her child or children."

The three of them contemplated this for a few minutes before they dropped the conversation to head for the shower and then to bed.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	22. Chapter 22

Part 22

"This is wonderful news," Dave said, after Aaron, Harper and Spencer entered the house and sat down in the living area, of Harper's parents as they were living in San Diego California. San Diego had grown considerably since last time they had settled there and there were now several million more residents.

"I'm surprised we haven't heard about it before now though," Penelope said giving her daughter the stink eye.

"Now Penelope that's not fair and you know it," Dave told his mate calmly, though he did shoot her a disapproving look. "Trying to get to know someone, especially your mate, is a delicate process, especially when they are mortal, I ought to know. Neither Aaron or Harper would've wanted the interference of their parents and you know you would've been up there like a shot if you had been told and you might wrecked things for them. It's getting harder and harder to tell someone mortal about Immortals with every passing year and you wouldn't have wanted to interrupt things at the wrong time."

"I suppose you're right," Penelope conceded. "It's very nice to meet you Spencer."

"It's nice to meet you too," Spencer said politely. "Harper talks about you all the time."

"Well, it's nice to know she hasn't forgotten us," Dave joked lightheartedly.

"Like I ever could," Harper told her father kissing his cheek.

"Well, you haven't contacted any of us in months so we were beginning to wonder," JJ put in, as she came out of the kitchen with a tray of snacks and a cup of coffee for Spencer. The rest got lemonade that had just been freshly made.

"We've been busy that's all," Aaron said. "Put a lot of time into getting to know Spencer and we told him about Immortals just recently."

"He accepted the news better than we thought he would, since he's very logical with a scientific background," Harper said.

"Well, that's good," Emily said, as she came from the master bedroom upstairs to join everyone.

"What made you accept the news so easily?" JJ asked. "I know I had trouble when Dave and Emily told me about Immortals and that they were real and this was way back in the 22nd century, which while very high tech, was not as high tech as today."

"I thought I was going to be rejected, because I knew how fantastic story sounded and it was hard to find people who truly believed in the supernatural and didn't dismiss it out of hand," said Dave.

"And if it was hard back then, it's much harder today," Emily said.

"I have to admit that normally, I wouldn't have believed such a fantastic tale," Spencer said. "I was used to going by my head not my heart, but when they told me I felt as if my emotions were being smothered, as normally, I likely would've walked out. I might be able to control my temper most of the time, but to me, it would've just been too fantastic a tale to be believed."

"So Ilithyia likely had a hand in making sure you didn't overreact," JJ said in understanding.

"That's what we all think, even though I don't normally believe in such things as supernatural beings, but I know how I would've reacted normally," Spencer agreed. "That's not the end of it either, as after I went to bed in the guest suite instead of going home, I had the most pleasant dreams of what life would be like if I took them up on that offer and normally, I'm no seer."

"I have no doubt that Ilithyia was showing you what your life would be like with Harper and Aaron in it," Dave said.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened," Spencer agreed. "After that though, I started having dreams of where I rejected their offer and I basically, became a hermit because of my rash decision and normally, I'm never rash. I never had a chance to correct my error in my dreams, as they packed up and moved not leaving any forwarding address before I came to my senses."

"So Ilithyia was showing you what could possibly happen if you rejected the offer without really thinking about it, because you usually go with your brain instead of your heart," Emily said in understanding.

"And it still makes me shudder whenever I think about it I didn't even see my family very much and only when I was forced to, so I basically lived my life alone. It was a very grim future," said Spencer.

"So you have parents and siblings aunts, uncles and cousins?"

"Parents and siblings, and a few aunts and uncles and a ton a cousins, but they don't live in Las Vegas so we don't see them much," Spencer shrugged.

"So have you two met his parents yet?" JJ asked Harper and Aaron.

"We have and the mother Diana was very warm and welcoming, but let's just say we weren't to impressed with the father William."

"I don't take offense, because my father and I are not exactly very close, which goes all the way back to my childhood," Spencer told everyone. "And no, I was never abused, mom would have had a conniption and dad would have been toast if he had abused me, physically. It was just that my father had certain expectations of how I should turn out and I disappointed every single one of them. He wanted me to become a lawyer something I was never interested in doing and tried to pressure me into obeying. I was always more of the indoor type like my mother was when she was a child as I liked to spend my free time reading and he tried to get me to go outside more without a book to supposedly play, pressured me, into during so on numerous occasions until I was nine, when mom finally got him to see that I was never going to be like he was when he was a child. He might have left me alone about that finally, but that didn't mean he didn't push in numerous other ways. He might have actually refused to pay for my college education, as I can see that would be a tactic he would try in order to get me to be a lawyer, so I hunted for scholarships, just in case. He did end up paying for my education, but let me know on a regular basis that he was disappointed in my choices."

"Everyone has expectations for their children," Dave offered, "but they should never be pressured into following a family tradition or going to the same profession as one of the parents."

"We told him basically the same thing, but Spencer was strong enough to go his own way, even if he puts on a mild front most of the time," Aaron said. "I really don't think Spencer's father realizes what he lost by continuing to pressure his son and trying to make him fit into his own mold instead of seeing that Spencer is his own person."

"The three of us could just move elsewhere you know and not tell anyone where we're going to except his siblings who don't like what they're father tried to force on their older brother."

"He objected to me getting involved with Harper and Aaron as he doesn't approve of multiple marriages, but then a lot of people don't, so it's not unusual," Spencer said. "I suppose he is very traditional in that way."

"You're over 18 he doesn't have any right to object," Emily said smirking.

"Oh, he has a right to object, he just doesn't have a right to try to force Spencer into not getting involved with them," Dave corrected.

"We fear he might try to interfere in the wedding preparations," Harper said. "Of course, it's possible that he won't do anything whether he disapproves or not."

"That really would be petty, and it wouldn't do any good because you can always elope and Las Vegas is the capital for that type of thing on earth anyway, because marriage licenses are so easy to get," said Penelope.

"So is Atlanta or even the Alpha Resort off planet," said Emily.

"We know that and we can always have it there or anywhere really, as we have plenty of money to move to another city faraway, even overseas or off planet," Aaron said.

"I don't want to do that though, mostly because of my mother and my siblings. My siblings would understand if I took that route and mom probably would to, but still, it's not a decision I want to be forced into. Mom has wanted me to be get married for years as only a couple of my siblings are at this point and I know she wants more grandchildren. Besides, she adores Harper and Aaron both and doesn't seem to mind that it's going to be a marriage of three instead of just two, even if I'm only technically, marrying Harper."

"So it's the father that's the problem then," Dave said.

"He's not really a problem right now, but he could be, as the potential is there, considering he has a history of interfering in my life," Spencer said. "We haven't told anybody except Brooke and Jeremy about the engagement."

"Who is this Jeremy?" Penelope asked immediately perking up at the name.

"He's my brother and also Brooke's mate," Spencer revealed.

"Brooke finally met her mate?" Dave asked smiling brightly at the news.

"She did about the same time that we met Spencer, as he owns a very popular bookshop," Aaron revealed.

"Someplace I frequent regularly, since I am a bibliophile," Spencer added smiling. "Jeremy certainly doesn't mind if I sit in one of the cozy chairs and read a whole novel in just a couple of hours."

"You must read really fast then," Emily said admiringly.

"Quite a bit faster than average," Spencer said not liking to toot his own horn.

"So has Brooke told Jeremy about being Immortal?" Penelope asked a little impatiently.

"Yes she did and he didn't take it well at first," Aaron said.

"Luckily, he had an older brother to help him correct his error before things really got out of hand," Spencer said. "I had already been told several weeks before Jeremy found out and had accepted it. Let's just say that Jeremy reacted badly as he doesn't like to be made a fool of and there's a reason for that."

"But you won't tell us because it's not your secret," JJ said.

"Yes, sorry, but Jeremy will have to tell you himself if he ever does," Spencer said apologetically. "Let me just say that I was the one that basically put him back together again along with my sister Whitney, since we three are the closest because we are the oldest."

"I can imagine what happened very easily, all of us can," Emily said wincing in sympathy.

"Yes, all of us know great deal about human nature, mostly because we've been around for a very long time," Dave agreed with Emily. "Human beings can be cruel, disdainful, vicious, prideful, stubborn and contemptuous, even of their own offspring and this is especially true of the young. Your father likely loves you very much but has his own ideas of what you should've been like and that's very common human fault I'm afraid. Some people just have trouble letting go of an image that they get in their heads."

"I'm well aware of that," Spencer said calmly. "I don't think dad realizes that I have other options and that I'm perfectly willing to break off all contact with him, although not my mother or my siblings because they've always supported me. I could move 3000 miles away or even further and he'd never find out where I went and even if he did, he couldn't do anything about it."

"Some people are just stubborn that's all and your father seems like one of them, even though we've never met the man," JJ said. "I don't really like to make judgments of people as everybody can tell you, but I've learned a lot about human nature in the last few centuries."

"He's stubborn alright and also totally clueless to my real feelings. Even if he knew he would probably not care," Spencer said. "I just can't be what he wants me to be and the fact that I got several degrees in college didn't seem to make a dent in his opinion of what I should've been like. He's let me know often enough every time I come around that he's disappointed in my choices, so much so that I hardly ever come around the house anymore where I know I'll run into him. Mom and me though, share lunch at least once a week at a café near the university where she teaches."

"Yeah, we've gone a few times," Harper said. "I really love his mother. For one thing it's clear that she loves her children very much and doesn't put up with much crap from her husband."

"So she would be disappointed if your father tried to disrupt the wedding planning," Penelope suggested.

"Oh, she wouldn't be just disappointed, she'd be furious," Spencer said smiling a little, "which is why I really don't think that father will try anything. At the very least, he'd be in the doghouse for a very long time and at the worst she'd demand a divorce. Considering that she put up with him trying to mold his children into what he wanted, his oldest son in particular, I think that would be the final straw. All mom really cares about is that her children are happy and I know she feared for a long time that I'd never settle down. The same goes for Jeremy and basically all my siblings, except my three younger ones, as one's only 26 and the last two are twins and only 24."

"It's a mother's prerogative to try to get her children to settle down have a family," Penelope said smiling. "Of course, with Immortals it's different as they never settle down unless they meet their mate. That's not to say that they don't have relationships, they just don't marry and have families."

"So when are we going to meet Jeremy?" Emily asked.

"Whenever Brooke thinks it's time to introduce you, but I wouldn't push the issue if I were you," Harper advised. "We probably shouldn't've told you and waited for Brooke to do so."

"Yes, Brooke should have done so herself, but considering the trouble you said you had getting Jeremy to believe in Immortals I can understand why she hasn't yet," Dave said.

"Oh, yes, I'm not sure that Brooke's even forgiven him quite yet and she told him straight out that he would have to earn it and for once she listened to me," Harper chuckled her satisfaction plain to see.

"You advised her not to forgive him right away," Penelope told her daughter amused.

"Considering how much Jeremy hurt her and made her cry for hours I think he deserves to suffer a few months at least," Harper said unrepentantly. "At least she took my advice this time, because all of us told her that it would be a bad idea to tell Jeremy alone, but you know how she likes to be independent and..."

"Her independent streak got in the way and she went against your advice," Dave said knowing his daughter.

"Oh, yeah, and she nearly lost him because of it," Aaron said soberly shaking his head. "Harper learned how to tame her independent streak a long time ago, but Brooke hasn't."

"Harper learned how because she had you to help keep her independent nature under control," Dave said and Aaron nodded. "Brooke never had that, never had anyone to help control that part of her."

"Which is what led to the situation just a few weeks ago," Spencer spoke up. "I can understand being independent, since I'm very much so, but I still relay on my family to help me when necessary, except my father."

"That's a lesson that Brooke never had a chance to learn," Dave said.

"Well, we managed to fix the mess that she got herself into and I threatened to twist Jeremy's balls off if he hurt my sister again," Harper said in supreme satisfaction.

"Harper!" Penelope exclaimed appalled.

"It was necessary," Harper told her mother not looking sorry in the least. "If you had seen the state Brooke was in when Jeremy only half listened to her explanation before throwing her out of his apartment saying he never wanted to see her again without even asking for a demonstration or letting her finish her explanation then you would've done the same."

"You have to consider that Brooke didn't have another mate to help make up for loss of Jeremy like Harper did if Spencer had refused to accept our explanation," Aaron reminded Penelope. "I think she did the right thing, as it will make Jeremy think in the future if he ever thinks about hurting Brooke emotionally again. Once he's Immortal that kind of thing won't happen again, because he'll feel the bond between the two of them, but until then, he needed an incentive not to hurt Brooke again."

"You better be glad I didn't find out about it at the time, because I would've been in Las Vegas faster than you could blink and Jeremy would have gotten off far worse," Dave told Penelope seriously. "She might be all grown up and hundreds of years old now, but she's still my daughter and you know how I feel about someone hurting any of my children, especially my daughters. Call me old-fashioned, but it's the truth."

"I do understand," Penelope sighed.

"What Jeremy did was wrong," Spencer said quietly. "I'm not saying he doesn't have a reason to react that way, but he still needs a learn to listen before he makes judgment calls. If mom found out about his stupidity I guarantee she would've twisted his ear and lectured him until he promised to apologize to Brooke for judging her when he didn't have complete information and it wouldn't matter that he's not a child anymore. I had to threaten to tell mom just to get him to listen to me."

"Well, I believe I would like your mother," Emily grinned. "Sounds like she knows how to handle her children when they're in the wrong."

"I'm sure you would," Aaron smiled. "Harper and I certainly do."

"So can you stay for lunch or do you need to get back?" Dave asked.

"I don't see why we can't stay for lunch," Aaron said, as after glancing at both Harper and Spencer.

"Sounds fine," Spencer said smiling. "Harper's always tell me that she learned how to cook from her father and she's a great one. Since I can't cook to save my life I'm certainly enjoying getting homecooked meals more often than I used to. I never go back to my childhood home anymore and I'm sure you can guess why without any trouble."

"We can, you don't need to draw us a diagram," Dave agreed soberly.

"I can cook some now thanks to Harper, but I'm certainly, not as good as she is," admitted Aaron.

"Not everybody has the talent," Emily shrugged, "or the interest."

"In your case, it's not of lack of talent it's the lack of interest," JJ gently teased her friend.

Emily just shrugged, as she didn't really care. Cooking had never been her favorite thing to do and she had been teased often enough over the centuries about her lack of cooking skills that she just didn't react like she had used to.

"I'll whip up something fast and easy then," Dave decided and headed into the kitchen.

"There's no need to go to any trouble for us dad," Harper protested, as she followed him

"It's no trouble and you know that, sweetie," Dave said, as he kissed on the forehead before he began gathering ingredients. "None of us have seen or heard from you for several months and at least now we understand why."

"Alright, fine," Harper gave in knowing how determined her father could be.

"Besides, it'll give us more time to talk," Dave shrugged, as he began chopping tomatoes and onions. "It's not like we have much company on a regular basis."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Harper said in understanding. "You must not only be bored, but lonely, with only each other for company."

"Of course not, you don't need to worry about me, your mother or aunts," Dave said. "We always find some way to keep ourselves occupied, you know this."

"Maybe you shouldn't have had yourself fixed," Harper mentioned.

"It was time. All of us have done our part to increase the Immortal race and being pregnant and giving birth isn't exactly painless as you know. All of us had had far more children than most any other Immortals ever do," Dave said simply and Harper nodded.

"I think I finally understand that," Harper said. "I'm nowhere near ready to stop having children but I might be one day."

"If that day comes you know me, your mother and your aunts will support you, so long as you've discussed it with your mates and they've agreed," Dave said, as Harper started to help him fix lunch.

The two worked in companionable silence for a few minutes, having worked together many times before, although that had been in New Orleans in the big roomy kitchen. Still, the atmosphere between father and daughter was the same and that was of respect, companionship and love.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	23. Chapter 23

Part 23

"You know turning someone Immortal by injecting an Immortal's blood rather then drinking it, is a rather unusual idea," Dave said. "Personally, I've never heard of it being done like that, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been."

The seven of them were just finishing lunch when Harper had told her family what she, Aaron and Spencer had been thinking wondering if it would work or not.

"The scientific theory behind it is sound," Spencer mentioned. "It would probably be faster because if you drink it it's going to take time to get into your system, but if you inject the blood directly into someone's veins, especially into the heart someone should have a nearly immediate reaction."

"You know that's rather interesting," Emily admitted. "I've never heard of anyone just injecting our blood by syringe, but as Dave said that doesn't mean it hasn't been done. It's not like there's a way to keep up with the news of other Immortals."

"You really need to ask a doctor, one who's Immortal," Penelope said.

"I was planning on contacting Graciela at some point, but I didn't think that was necessary until Brooke and Jeremy are ready, since it would make sense to do Spencer and his brother at the same time or at least within a few days of each other," Harper said.

"It's possible that Graciela has done this type of thing at least once or twice and if she hasn't she's going to be in contact with other doctors and can ask them," JJ said.

"I can contact her for you when you're ready," Dave said. "We're really old friends after all and she owes me a favor or two and I'll be more then happy to call in one of them on your behalf, as well as Brooke's and Jeremy's."

"That would be great, although it would have to be okay with Brooke and Jeremy as well," said Harper.

"I don't think Jeremy at least will have a problem with it since he knows absolutely nothing about Immortals, except what Brooke has told him and the little bit I told him back when Aaron and I went to his apartment after he threw Brooke out," Spencer said. "In fact, he told me that he would rather take a needle in a vein then have to drink blood and I for one can't blame him for that, since drinking blood is rather gross."

Dave snorted at that still looking rather upset at Jeremy. He was actually quite proud of Harper for threatening to twist Jeremy's balls off if he hurt her sister again. He might just have a few words with Jeremy himself once they did meet. Still, Jeremy wasn't likely to make the same mistake after he was Immortal, because he would feel the bond he had with Brooke, even if he couldn't right now, but a little warning before that day would probably prevent him from making a similar mistake. He knew none of his wives, except Emily would approve if he was to do so, so he would say nothing and if they found out he would take their anger. They wouldn't be too upset at him actually, because they did understand that an Immortal was very protective of those they loved. Jeremy had already hurt his daughter once, so it was quite possible for it to happen again. Apparently, Spencer hadn't overreacted, but then if Ilithyia had apparently heavily smothered his emotions so he couldn't and that had helped. The young man had already admitted that he would've just walked away if not for the gods interference. Well, not so young, Dave supposed as 36 while not even close to middle-age anymore, as people could live a couple of centuries now, was still more than grown up by anyone's standards. Still, to him who was way over a thousand Spencer was still incredibly young, but certainly old enough to be out on his own, make his own decisions. As far as he was concerned, Spencer was now his son-in-law even though he and Harper were not yet married, but they would be within a year he was sure. Perhaps, it would even be a double ceremony with Brooke and her mate Jeremy, Spencer's brother. Now wasn't that a kick in the head, Dave thought in quiet amusement. What were the odds of two brothers being the mates of two sisters who were twins? It had probably never happened before to 2 pairs of siblings in two different families one Immortal and one not.

Still, it meant that Spencer would have at least one of his siblings with him, for the rest of his eternity and that was good, since siblings were usually close if they were close in age. Not always of course, as it depended heavily on a lot of different factors. He wasn't really close to any of his siblings, but considering how far apart they were in age that wasn't really surprising. He was close to his parents and his grandparents though and they saw each other fairly frequently at least by Immortal standards.

"It's the only way to change a mortal male into an Immortal when they have a female mate at least as far as I am aware. Of course, we don't run across Immortals very often, but occasionally we do. There really are not very many of us you know considering how much trouble our race has with having children and how big the world is."

"That's going to have to be something we talk about, because if I do marry Harper here, which is a foregone conclusion, dad at least is going to expect grandchildren within a few years and if it doesn't happen I'm sure he'll demand I get a divorce and marry someone that can have children. He will never take into consideration that maybe we didn't want children or whether or not Harper is capable of having them doesn't mean I'm going to divorce her since there are plenty of other options for children nowadays," Spencer explained.

"What about your mother?" JJ asked. "You said something earlier about her wanting grandchildren."

"I think we should explain about Immortals to her. She won't tell dad if we ask her not to. Their marriage has been somewhat rocky for several years at least and it's partly because of the way he treats me in particular, but also my siblings to a lesser extent. That's not the whole problem of course, but it is one of the main causes for the friction."

"Do you think she'd believe you if you told her that something so fantastical is real?" Dave asked.

"She's much like me and very logical and scientific, but I believe she will if given a demonstration much like I was or Jeremy was," Spencer said.

"We really like, Diana," Harper told her family, "and we all believe that she'll keep things under wrap if asked to."

"Mom won't want to wreck things for me or for Jeremy for that matter, as all she wants is to see her children happy preferably settled down with a mate of their own. As for grandchildren while she would love to have them, I think she would be happy with the fact that Jeremy and I have found love and have finally settled down. I also don't think she'd care whether we adopt or not in a few years, though my dad likely would."

"There's always IVF," Penelope mentioned.

"If any Immortal doctor knows how to do that and can extract eggs from me or from Brooke, then I for one am more than willing and it will give us a family in a few years of course, so that the Senior Reid doesn't have anything to harp about," Harper said.

"And it doesn't go against any of the strictures that the gods put down for Immortals," said Penelope.

"We also have to consider the fact that IVF didn't exist until the 1970s way after Immortals came into existence," Emily said.

"Yes, but if the gods can supposedly see into the future they could've seen when IVF became a possibility and warned Immortals against using it," Aaron pointed out logically.

"Still, I would check with an Immortal seer before you go that route and see what they say before you do something like that," Dave suggested. "This is a new area, because as far as I know no one Immortal has ever tried IVF before, though I could be wrong. It's not like we see others Immortals on a regular basis, just every few years. Really, considering how big the world is there are not that many Immortals out there and it's not like we have a way to keep track of each other."

"It doesn't hurt to be cautious, because you don't want to offend Ilithyia by doing something she objects to," JJ said.

"We'll do that," Aaron promised. "Unless Harper or Brooke have a vision themselves like Harper did when we were about to meet Spencer."

"It's rather unusual for a seer to have visions that involve them personally, though I admit not so much where it concerns meeting their mate as they are unlikely not to follow through on that," said Dave. "Normally, Ilithyia prefers to use an intermediary when it involves a seer's personal life, likely, to stop them from changing something that must be if it happens to be bad news or even to stop them from being tempted to use their talent in the wrong way, to perhaps harm others, whether accidentally or deliberately. Having such a talent comes with a certain responsibility to use it wisely and correctly, which doesn't always happen."

"That's something I agree with personally," Spencer who had been silent said. "I can think of several ways that having a talent like that could be used to harm someone. A person could choose not to fulfill what a vision showed them and that could harm someone down the line. Say a child isn't born that's supposed to be that could come up with a cure for a currently incurable illness that would do a lot of mortals at least incredible harm and might even come close to wiping out a species."

"Or say a child is born that is supposed to be the mate of a mortal, but because that child never came to be that mortal dies a natural death or from some other cause or even goes insane and it was important that they live, because they come up with a very significant invention that helps the human race in someway. Say that child was supposed to encourage their mate in his or her research, bolster their confidence or even help them with coming up with their invention or cure for a deadly disease," Penelope suggested. "Really, the possibilities are endless."

"Which is why most Immortals who have the talent don't get visions about their personal life and why the gods only show you just enough so that you follow the correct path," Dave said. "Few people can resist using such talents wrongly, especially if the vision happened to be very personal to them. Besides, even if one of our race isn't tempted to use their talent in the wrong way not that many seers are born. That both Harper and Brooke got the talent is rather unusual, but since they're twins it was more than possible and it helped that they had a seer in the family back when Penelope was mortal."

"Our great-grandfather Arnold right?" Harper asked Penelope nodded.

"Yes, your great-grandfather Arnold who didn't pass the talent to his daughter who in turn only passed a partial talent to me. Still, I have the gene for it just like mom did, so some of my children were bound to inherit the full blown version, especially considering how many children Dave and I had."

"Still, only about 20 or so did," Dave said, "which really isn't that greater percentage considering that Penelope accounts for over 100 of the children we had thanks to her having twins every time."

"That's not even a quarter," Spencer said.

"Well, the talent does tend to skip generations," Penelope shrugged. "Really, when you think about it, 20 is quite a lot since most families only have two or three children. Most families that have a seer in it only have one child that will get the full talent or at least a partial talent like I did. I had two brothers Andy and Darrin and neither one of them got even a little bit of grandfather's gift. Both were intelligent and personable and Darrin was very shy around women, but he did eventually marry and have a family. Still, my point is that while they were all these things neither one of them got even a trace of the gift, even if they inherited the gene for it. It might even have to do with the fact that both Harper and Brooke are female, as more females seem to inherit the gift then males."

"Perhaps, it's because women are less likely to misuse the gift," Spencer suggested. "Women tend to be more honest, though not always I know, as there are plenty of women criminals it's just a lower percentage. They tend to be stronger mentally and emotionally then men a lot of times, even if men have a reputation as being tough and women for being delicate and emotional."

"Yeah, I haven't thought about it in that way, but Spencer does have a point," Harper told everyone. "Women take the abuse a man dishes out much better in most cases then men do, though not always. It's always been that women have to prove themselves a least twice as capable than a man does just to get a similar position that seems to be a man's by right, even if they're not suitable and even in this century it happens. I have to admit that there're more women in positions of power than there used to be. Still, that doesn't mean that a lot of men don't try their best to hold them back."

"Now, that's something I agree with," JJ said with real feeling. "I met this guy long before I met Dave that beat me bloody just because I had a job I loved and I got a promotion to where I made more than him. I found out one night when he was drunk that he would prefer me to be a housewife and look after the children, perhaps do some charity work, but that he wanted to be the breadwinner. His thoughts were like some man from the 16th or 17th century instead of the 22nd when I was originally born. When he hit me for the first time I threw him out and told him not to come back and several months later he somehow found me near my car when I was out shopping and beat me up so badly that I was in the hospital for a long time. Also because he used a knife on my belly the doctors told me at the time that I might not be able to have children. He never bothered to hide his identity, because I was just a weak woman after all and he figured I'd be too scared to do so."

"But you proved him wrong when you testified against him in court," Dave said, as he came over to put an arm around JJ who snuggled into the touch.

"I won't say I wasn't scared to do so, but I could let him get away with it, you know? It turned out that he'd done it to a lot of other women and they started coming forward," JJ shrugged. "He got a long time in prison, enough that it was nearly a life sentence."

"Not enough," Dave growled. "I'm only sorry that we hadn't met yet and didn't for a few years."

"I'm really sorry that happened to you Aunt JJ," Harper said getting up to give her aunt a hug.

"It's okay, it's was a long time ago, and Dave has certainly made up for what happened to me before we met," JJ said returning Harper's hug.

"A tragedy like that often makes us stronger if it doesn't break us," Spencer said. "I'm really sorry that happened to you. It wasn't right, but unfortunately, they're a lot of bad people in the world who don't care if they hurt others."

"Believe me, I know it, we all do," JJ said. "I won't say I was completely innocent before that happened as I did lose my parents in a car crash when I was 15 and my aunt years later to cancer, but I certainly never even thought about being beat up just because I broke up with the guy who hit me. He did try to convince me to take him back, waylaid me quite a few times when I was out and about, but I had done my research and I knew the likelihood of him hitting me again were high. I wasn't going to get myself into that type of situation again."

"I don't think anyone here can blame you for that," Aaron said. "What happened to you, as Spencer said wasn't right, but it happens to a lot of good people unfortunately. We just aren't a peaceful species."

"Well, I'm no longer as helpless as I was back then, because I have a black belt in several martial arts disciplines. Anybody who comes after me is in for a surprise," JJ said. "I only wish I had those skills back when my ex-boyfriend beat me up so badly, as he wouldn't've been able to if I had."

"Try to encourage Brooke to come and see us with Jeremy," Penelope suggested after a few more minutes of conversation, as the subject of JJ's long ago attack was dropped since it was still painful for her to remember, even after centuries.

"You need to be patient, sweetheart," Dave said. "Brooke will introduce us to Jeremy in her own time and I don't want anybody to push because that will just make her dig in her heels. You know how stubborn she is, how independent. Just look what happened when she didn't take her sister's, Aaron's and Spencer's advice. I know you want to meet her mate, but she'll introduce us sometime in the next month or two I'm sure."

"You don't want Brooke and Jeremy eloping because you pushed too hard," Harper told her mother who looked pained. "Brooke can be very persuasive when she wants to be so you don't need to push her in that direction. I'm hoping she'll actually agrees to make it a double ceremony and that way we can get both weddings out of the way at once."

"And double weddings are not uncommon," Aaron added.

"That would be kind of nice, because that way the family only has to come into town once instead of twice within a short amount of time," Emily said.

"They wouldn't mind having to come twice in such a short period, but it sure would be more convenient," Dave said.

"I'll see what I can do, but I make no promises," Harper told everyone.

"You're right about Brooke," Penelope sighed. "I'll try to be patient, but it's a big thing when an Immortal meets their mate. That I didn't know about both of you meeting yours for nearly a year is bad enough but that I still haven't met Jeremy..."

"We all want to meet Jeremy, but we can also wait for as long as it takes, as we don't want to mess things up," JJ said.

Penelope said nothing, but it was clear she disagreed if only because she really wanted to meet her daughter's mate. Still, she had learned to temper her usual cheerful and exuberant nature a long time ago so she could be patient. Probably anyway.

"All of us will certainly look forward to meeting Jeremy," JJ said smiling.

"Hopefully, you will soon," Aaron said.

All of them continued to talk, before Harper, Aaron and Spencer eventually left around 3 o'clock in the afternoon to head back home to Vegas.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Look! Look!" Brooke squealed excitedly, as she showed her twin her ring finger.

"Well, I looks like Jeremy finally got off his butt and proposed," Harper told her sister grinning. "I'm very happy for you. Aaron and Spencer will be to."

It was over six months after Jeremy had nearly made his disastrous mistake.

"So where are the dynamic duo?" Brooke asked smiling.

"They went out to bond," Harper said smiling. "They don't always need me around, especially since we spend plenty of time together as you know. Both enjoy basketball, even if Spencer isn't very athletic himself."

Which was another bone of contention between Spencer and his father, Harper knew as Spencer had told her and Aaron as much.

"That's good," Brooke smiled.

"Yeah, it is. Both get along really well, but Aaron and I were at least prepared to accept whoever our mate would be, but it took Spencer longer to warm up, since he isn't used to having a lot of close friends or of having people accept him for himself. It just took him awhile to figure out that Aaron and I were courting him, subtly of course, but still it was courting," Harper said.

"I wonder why it took him so long?" Brooke frowned in puzzlement.

"It had to do with his father, who damaged his self-confidence in a lot of ways," Harper explained vaguely. "Aaron and I have both met the man and weren't too impressed. I suspect he wanted someone who was exactly like himself or at least mostly and when that didn't occur he made Spencer feel unloved and unwanted at the very least. Luckily, his mother made up for the father's inattention."

"Yeah, I noticed that Jeremy and his father weren't exactly close," Brooke admitted. "I noticed that there was some kind tension underneath the casual welcome that I got when Jeremy took me to meet his parents about a month after we met, but I never did figure out what caused it."

"Let's just say that Spencer's father won't exactly win father of the year. According to Spencer anyway he wanted him to be a lawyer because it's family tradition and has been for more than ten generations, but it was the last thing Spencer wanted," Harper explained.

"Jeremy and I talked a little about that," said Brooke. "He said that he did not understand why their father kept pressuring their oldest brother into doing something that he obviously didn't want to do, then treated him terribly when he refused to obey."

"Some people just don't take disappointment well," Harper shrugged, "and really all the tension started back in Spencer's early childhood."

"Jeremy also said that Spencer was the one that basically put him back together again after what happened with Angela LaStrobe. This was after his father grounded him for months and his mother lectured him until his ears nearly fell off," Brooke said.

"Which explains at least partially why they're so close even though there is about four years between them," Harper said.

"Four years isn't really so much," Brooke said. "A lot of siblings are that far apart and still close."

"So how do you feel about a double wedding?" Harper asked.

"You mean me and Jeremy and you and Spencer are getting married at the same time?" Brooke said looking thoughtful.

"Yes, it would save our relatives from having to come into town twice in a very short space of time," Harper said.

"What you really mean if you just want to get it out of the way so that you and Spencer aren't supposedly living in sin," Brooke grinned at her sister. "That's what Jeremy's and Spencer's family will believe if you don't go through a wedding ceremony."

"I also don't want to give his father anymore reason to object to Spencer being with me," Harper explained.

"Yes, William Reid is something of a hard ass, isn't he?" asked Brooke rhetorically.

"That's the understatement of the decade," Harper snorted sounding extremely cynical. "Diana looked furious all through the dinner we attended and I have no doubt that they had it out as soon as we had left. Diana can be like a mother lion protecting her cubs."

"Well, so can our mother and our aunts for that matter," Brooke commented. "Any good mother would want to protect her children and I have no doubt at all that Diana Reid is a good mother. I can't say the same for the father though."

"No, William Reid is the classic parent who wants his oldest son to follow in his footsteps and when oldest son doesn't obey, just basically abandoned him and concentrate on his other children," Harper said. "Spencer admitted that his father's attitude hurt him, but as far as he knows his father's not aware of it and that's the way he wants it to remain."

"He seems the dense type when it comes to any kind of emotions other than his own," Brooke said.

"Yes, he does," Harper agreed. "Still, let's change the subject to our wedding."

"No, I don't mind doing a double ceremony, though I'll have to see what Jeremy wants. Still, it would be easier and cheaper just to get it done in one go instead of doing two weddings a few months apart," Brooke said.

"You know dad won't care about that and has agreed to pay for one or two ceremonies," Harper said and Brooke nodded.

"I'm sure that Diana will insist on paying at least some of the cost, even though it is tradition for the brides families to pay for the whole thing," Brooke said.

"Yeah, that's true," Harper agreed. "The groom's family does have to pay some of the cost, but the majority of it does fall on the brides family if you go by tradition."

"Which is totally unfair, but we don't necessarily have to follow tradition," Brooke said.

"No, we don't so why don't we put our heads together and start planning and we can ask the boys their opinion at a later time," Harper said.

"Weddings are mainly for the females anyway," Brooke said smiling. Brooke had been smiling a lot ever since she and Jeremy had officially gotten together. The two of them had been dating for well over a year and if you didn't count Jeremy's moment of stupidity had been happy for all that time.

"Absolutely," Harper agreed enthusiastically. "I've been preparing for this day for some time as Aaron and I always knew that we had another soulmate out there somewhere."

"You're so lucky to have two," Brooke said a little enviously. "Still, I'll be happy with just Jeremy, as he's wonderful for the most part."

"I never expected it, not until after Aaron and I got together," Harper said.

"You can't really expect that kind of thing since it happens so rarely, but to have two people in the same family that have more than one soulmate is rather astonishing," Brook said.

"Not when you consider how many children dad had with his three mates," Harper suggested. "If that kind of thing was going to happen to anyone it would be someone in dad's family, since Ilithyia has always favored him."

"That's a good point," Brooke said consideringly.

"Let's get back to what's important and that's wedding planning," Harper suggested.

The troubles with William Reid were forgotten as the two sisters chatted deciding on what they wanted for their double wedding ceremony in a few months time.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	24. Chapter 24

Part 24

"This is wonderful news," Diana said enthusiastically.

Aaron, Spencer and Harper as well as Jeremy and Brooke sat at the big kitchen table in the home of the older Reids.

The reason Diana looked so happy was because all of them had just informed her as well as William Reid that they were getting married preferably in a double ceremony.

All of the younger people had been invited for dinner at the older Reids home on multiple occasions but those invitations were turned down mostly because Brooke or Aaron and Harper didn't want to deal with William Reid. Diana knew this and accepted it, knowing that she would likely have to argue with her husband about Spencer getting married to some woman who already had a husband. Will, just didn't see that he was driving his oldest son away from the family with his insistence on interfering in his life, even though he was nearly 40 and that didn't even account for the strained relationship with his other children since they supported their oldest brother who they felt was getting an unfair amount of pressure, something she agreed with.

Diana well knew that Will didn't take disappointment well and ever since Spencer had refused to go to college to become an attorney, Will had been driving him farther and farther away. Really, it had begun before that when Will had refused to send Spencer to a school for exceptionally intelligent children and she knew what a tough time he'd had in a normal high school. Diana wasn't sure that Will really knew what a tough time his son had had from the other children or that he'd care even if he did. It wasn't even a matter of money as those kind of schools cost since Will made plenty and so did she.

She expected to have to fight tooth and nail to get Will to pay for the wedding, not so much for Jeremy and Brooke, but Harper and Spencer definitely, if only because Harper was already married. Still, group marriages were very common in this century and in fact, she knew several people who were married to at least two if not three others. Diana just knew that Will would confront Spencer and try his best to talk his son out of marrying Harper, as her husband thought it was unnatural for people to marry more than one person of the opposite gender. Since Spencer had already told him to butt out once, though much more politely, she didn't see Will's tactic working. Still, Will's attitude just drove Spencer farther from his family.

She could actually see the three of them moving to some other city far way, perhaps, even off planet if Will just didn't learn to accept that Spencer was nothing like him. She would be sad if that happened as she'd likely only see her son, Aaron and their wife once a year, maybe twice. At least now she saw him once a week, even if that was in the café close to where she worked for lunch, but that could change if Will didn't watch it. She really didn't know what Will's problem was, as she adored Harper and Aaron both, as they were intelligent, could converse on a variety of subjects, were polite, well educated and a good match for Spencer. In her opinion they brought out the best in her son, which was a minor miracle. Will didn't seem to care that Spencer was really happy with Harper in particular and that he was really fond of Aaron, although that was more a sibling relationship if she was any judge. Will had no right to try to prevent his son from marrying Harper just because she was already married so long as he was sure that Harper at least loved him and that Aaron was okay with the situation, since multiple marriages while common didn't mean that at least one of the party didn't eventually get a divorce. She didn't see that happening this time as Spencer was way too careful to ever agree to marriage, without first really understanding his feelings and also those of Harper and Aaron. He would have to be absolutely sure that Harper did love him and that Aaron was truly okay with him joining their family.

Diana could have told her son some months ago that Harper did indeed adore him and that Aaron was more than okay with the situation, but she knew better than to interfere in her children's lives unless asked for advice and luckily, it had turned out okay so far.

Diana glanced at her husband and saw that he didn't look very happy, and that was because if Spencer, Aaron and Harper she knew and had nothing to do with Brooke's and Jeremy's announcement. If it was only Brooke and Jeremy getting married she knew that Will would be over the moon.

Diana carried on a conversation, even while keeping a close eye on her husband who she expected to explode at any moment, though hopefully, he would wait until all their guests had left. Diana didn't really know what Will had against multiple marriages and knew it could be something simple like he was very traditional or it could be a much deeper reason. It didn't really matter though, because Spencer was his own person and way past the age where he could be told what to do.

"So do you want help planning?" Diana asked.

"That would be great I'm sure you have a lot of good ideas," Brooke said smiling brightly at Diana.

"Yes, I'm sure you do, since you helped plan your daughter's and son's weddings according to Spencer," Harper said.

"I'll be happy to help," Diana said beaming.

"I know that I won't get off with a small ceremony, but lets at least try to keep it fairly simple," Spencer said.

"Weddings are more for the females then for the males," Diana reminded her son and Spencer sighed.

"Mom would agree with you," Brooke smiled, "and so would my aunts Emily and JJ. They'll be happy to help plan the wedding too."

"Dad's already said that he'll just let the ladies do what they want and intends to stay out of any of the preparations, except for supplying money for whatever we want," Harper said grinning conspiratorially at her sister.

"Smart man, your dad," Diana said approvingly.

"And your dad approves of you marrying a second time?" William asked not having spoken much during dinner.

"Considering he's married three times himself I would say so," Brooke told the older man frowning at his rather snappy tone.

"It would be rather silly of him to object considering that he has three wives," Harper added with a rather vicious grin, as she stared right at the Senior Reid.

Diana nearly laughed at Will's expression, but managed not to.

"He's actually very happy for all of us," Spencer said, as he stared at his father his expression unreadable, but anybody who truly knew him could see the pain in his eyes. "He was very enthusiastic when we told him of the engagement and offered to pay for everything without batting an eye. All he ever wanted was for his children to be happy and so he has nothing against them marrying as many times as they like."

At Spencer's words Diana knew there was a message for his father, but it was obvious that her husband hadn't picked up on the meaning beneath his son's words.

William Reid just grumbled and went back to his dinner, obviously not happy with anyone's response.

Finally dinner was over and all the younger people made their excuses to get out of the rather tense atmosphere caused by William Reid and Diana didn't blame him for that.

"William Edward Reid! How dare you make guest feel unwelcome!" Diana told him the anger clear in her tone.

"But Diana!"

"Don't but Diana me! Two of our sons just announced their engagements and now they know what you think of it. You sanctimonious pig, you're driving your oldest son farther and farther from his family with your attitude. I've told you before about your attitude toward Spencer, but did you listen to me? I won't be surprised if they just decide to elope and if they do then you William Reid will be in the doghouse for the next six months. You have no idea the damage you've caused to your son's psyche with your unforgiving, unrelenting and unaccepting attitude. You act like he's committed some great crime and should be thrown in prison, just because he didn't turn out the way that William Reid believes he should. Instead of just accepting that Spencer is not you, you've made it clear that you'll never accept his choices and he's nearly 40. So what if he didn't become a lawyer? He would've been miserable in that profession but would you have cared? No, all you saw was he was breaking family tradition, even though your father said that traditions were meant to be broken. I mean he got like 6 degrees and did you congratulate him? No, all you could show was your disapproval that he didn't follow in your footsteps, so is it a wonder he resents the hell out of you?"

"But Diana…" William tried, but Diana Reid was on a roll and refused to be stopped.

"Two of our sons come to us with the greatest news and how do you respond? No, William Reid just can't be happy for them or at least Spencer. I've never seen Spencer so happy in all his life, and it's Harper and that makes him so and you can't even give him sincere congratulations. If you do anything to interfere with either wedding you will regret the day you were ever born, do you understand me William Reid? Your sons happiness should be all that matters and yet you've practically driven your oldest away from the family, because you've made it clear that you're unhappy with his choices instead of being proud of him like you should be. And your relationship isn't that great with your other children either and all because of your actions towards Spencer. You're trying your best to drive a wedge between all of us and yourself and I for one refuse to let it happen and if that means I have to divorce you so I will remain close to my children so be it. You've tried your best to ruin your oldest son just because he didn't meet your expectations. Don't think I don't remember every time you tried to force Spencer into your own mold instead of leaving him to grow up in is own way with his parents support. I mean good God William you act like he murdered someone or that he died the second he didn't turn out the way you wanted him to. You've let your disdain for his choices be obvious and to someone as perceptive as our son who's good at picking up on the subtle clues a person gives off that had to hurt him."

William Reid hung his head head in shame having just been told off by his wife, not that that was an unusual event really, as he had tried forcing Spencer in so many ways to be at least similar to himself. He had so many expectations for his oldest son and Spencer hadn't been interested in fulfilling a single one of them, but then he hadn't supported his son like he should have and he knew it. Worse, he'd let Spencer know it. Really, he'd tried again and again to force Spencer into doing what he wanted and he knew that's not what a good parent would do. Spencer had grown his own way and turned into a very intelligent, well-rounded person and instead of being proud of him he had resented that Spencer wasn't turning out like he wanted or expected.

He knew that there was no way to repair his relationship or at least they would never be as close as they were when Spencer had been really small, as he doubted that his son would ever forgive him. He wouldn't be shocked if Spencer, Harper and Aaron and decided that moving out of Las Vegas and far away would be the best route to take after the wedding. They could even move off planet, though that was a very expensive proposition.

"You will swear to me that you'll not interfere in the wedding preparations or the actual wedding itself, you will not stand up and tell people you know you don't approve of the marriage," Diana said finally. "It's bad enough that you've let your children know that you'll never accept their older brother for who he is or for all he's accomplished, but if you stood up and objected to Spencer's marriage or Jeremy's for that matter that would be enough to get me to divorce you, is that understood? You have let your disapproval of your oldest son be known for the last time, so you will either learn to accept him for who he is, a good man who has finally fallen in love or you know the alternative. Just so you know I would've divorced you years ago if not for the fact I wanted the children to have a father, but you are not the good man I married and all the children are now adults. I mean even your father tried to tell you that Spencer was his own person and that traditions were meant to be broken and instead of just accepting that you went out of your way to make Spencer resent you at the very least and I wouldn't be surprised if he hates your guts or at least is starting to, as your attitude at dinner might have been the last straw. I wouldn't blame them if they moved far way after this and cut off all contact with you and me."

"I understand," William sighed knowing he had made a mess of things, had been for years, but Diana's argument and ultimatum had finally opened his eyes to what he had done, even though she had been arguing with him about how he treated Spencer for decades.

He finally saw that he had driven a wedge between himself and the rest of the family, but especially between himself and his oldest son all because he was just so damn stubborn and hadn't accepted Spencer for himself or his choices. His father had also tried to warn him about his attitude several times, but he hadn't listened determined to get Spencer to do what he wanted and that was becoming an attorney, even though it was the last thing Spencer desired.

He now knew his son would've been miserable as an attorney and he was now glad that Spencer had been strong enough to go his own way, though he doubted he would ever tell him, as it was unlikely that his son would believe his change in attitude, especially considering it was so swift. No, it was best if he just left his son alone.

"Good, you better," Diana said severely. "I mean God, William! Why couldn't you just have accepted Spencer in particular for who he is instead of trying to force him into your own mold? I knew you were stubborn when I married you, but you sure don't use that stubbornness in the right way. I realize that all parents have expectations for their children, but a lot of children don't turn out the way their parents expect and those people should learn to accept their kids for who they are. Do you know how many children turn into criminals just because their parents put too much pressure on them? Of course, sometimes the need to do the wrong thing is inherent, but I believe that mostly it's because of family pressure to go down a specific path. You're just damn lucky that Spencer didn't turn into some kind of super criminal, as you know as intelligent as he is, he never would've been caught."

William winced at that knowing very well that his wife was right.

"At the very least Spencer could've turned into a spoiled rotten, lazy brat who demanded and treated people as beneath him instead of the polite young man he is, as it happens all the time and all because you tried your best to break him to your will through subtle little comments and lack of affection. A father's affection should not be dependent on how a child is turning out or whether that child is becoming what the parent wants. A parent is supposed to love their child unconditionally and is supposed to support them through everything," Diana said and William winced again. "Don't even get me started on how you insisted he had to go to public school and if you know what a tough time he had... And it wasn't even that you couldn't afford to send him to a nice private school for the more intelligent children."

William remembered insisting on sending Spencer to public school, even though it was clear that his intelligence was way above average, though this was the first he'd heard about the tough time his son had had, probably on purpose. Spencer wasn't the type to air his troubles, especially to someone who had made it clear that they didn't care about him or his problems. Sending his son, who was more intelligent than most, to a public school had seemed like a good idea at the time and William remembered thinking that he wanted all his children to go to the same high school he had attended. He hadn't bothered to consider the fact that Spencer in particular would likely be maliciously teased and bullied by the other children who wouldn't like to be shown up by someone they considered a know-it-all. There had never been any noticeable signs that Spencer had been physically bullied, but that didn't mean that children's words didn't hurt or have an effect on the psyche. William now realized that if his son happened to be physically bullied there might have been signs underneath his clothes.

Diana studied her husband's posture and face and nodded. "I see you finally realize that enormity of what you have done, but it's too late to repair your relationship with Spencer, as that particular ship sailed a long time ago. No, I fear that Spencer knows what you think of him and even if you tried your best to be the father that he deserved I doubt your overtures would be accepted. You have absolutely no idea how deeply you have scarred him because of your attitude. An attitude by a parent who is supposed to love their children."

"Yes, it's used to late, decades too late really," William said. "I should've realized years ago that children are not always going to grow in the way that a parent wants or expects, as that's not human nature."

"Well, I'm glad to have finally accepted your many mistakes when it comes to Spencer at least," Diana said. "I'm not going to bother to go into the list of what you could have done as I'm sure you know without me harping on the subject. Still, it would go a long way to repairing relationship if you're genuinely happy for Spencer when he finally ties the knot with Harper and letting your son see that and yes, I'm aware of your distaste for multiple relationships but our son is not you. Besides, what did you ever teach him except how to hide his feelings and put a mask on?"

That was true William knew as he remembered the day Spencer had been born and how proud he had been. He also remembered how he had practically abandoned his son when it was clear the boy wasn't turning out like he wanted or expected, which had happened by the time he was five or so. Spencer had always been an extremely smart and perceptive lad, even at that age and had picked up on his subtle disdain, dislike and uninterest in his problems. It hadn't been long after that that Spencer had stopped approaching him with questions that were just like any curious little boy's and started avoiding him as much as was humanly possible, even though they lived in the same house. It helped that he worked a great deal of the time and Spencer was in school for hours every day. Spencer had learned not to ask him for favors like going to the zoo or the bookstore as William never had time for him and had made his uninterest about spending time with his son clear from the time Spencer was young.

All a child wanted was to be loved and he hadn't loved his son like he should have. It was very possible that Spencer would've turned out more like him if he had shown the boy genuine affection and hadn't let his disdain for Spencer's bookish ways be known. Diana had told him more than once that she had been more an indoor child who liked to spend her time reading then going outside to play.

Diana had tried to tell him that every child was different and so what if Spencer acted more like her then him, but he had been offended and thought it an offense against his masculinity that his son wasn't showing more manly traits, even though he had only been a kid. He saw his son being bookish as being girly, even though he knew in the back of his mind many men were also very bookish as children and liked to study and learn just like Spencer. He knew that those men later became some of the greatest academics or used their bookish ways to go into some sort of research or to become some sort of scientist. There were many careers that required somebody to like studying, to like learning new things just like his son and yet he hadn't accepted those traits in his own son.

William hung his head in shame and simply wondered away and Diana watched him go frowning.

She hoped that William didn't do something stupid, just because he had finally realized that he had never treated his oldest son like a son at all, not since Spencer had been really young anyway. She would have to keep an eye on him to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid out of a sense of guilt.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	25. Chapter 25

Part 25

Harper, Aaron, Brooke, Jeremy and Spencer walked into the restaurant where they were meeting Diana Reid.

They all agreed that they would tell her about the world of the Immortals together, each of them backing the others up. They had also agreed that they would extract a promise from her to not tell her husband, because they didn't trust him and they had reason not to. The wedding planning was in the middle stages as the planning had been going on for around three months or so. They had even started planning their separate honeymoons to two separate destinations. Spencer had never been to any of the cities on the moon, but wanted to go, so that's where the three of them were going. Spencer felt he would find the culture fascinating, even though the humans that had created the technology that made living on the moon a possibility, had done so more then 800 years ago. The moon colonists had to live under great domes and dig underground for their environment, but still they had created great communities in more than half a dozen large cities. No Immortals lived on the moon because the environment was to controlled and somebody would be bound to notice if a person didn't start age at a normal rate, so that eventually there would be questions about why that person look the same as they had 50 years ago. That didn't mean they didn't visit for short amounts of time and Aaron, Spencer and Harper were planning to go for a couple of months, even though Spencer had a business of his own. Still, he had a second-in-command that he trusted to take over while he was gone.

Brooke and Jeremy on the other hand were staying on planet Earth and planning to head to Italy, through they wouldn't be staying in one city more then a week or so, before moving to another.

"Ready for this?" Aaron asked Spencer quietly. The two of them had become quite close, much closer than before and that was because they shared many similar interest including liking basketball, though they supported different teams. Still, the two of them were like brothers, even though Aaron had been born many centuries ago. The fact that both were intelligent men and Aaron at least had been prepared to get along with his second mate whether male or female also helped. Still, Aaron genuinely respected Spencer and how he had stood up to his father, even if it had been subtly and also respected the fact that Spencer simply loved to learn and to bury himself in reading.

Of course, the same went for Spencer, as he greatly respected the older man, though he had expected jealousy at the very least when he had started hanging out with Harper so much without Aaron being present, but the older man's reaction had never come to pass like Spencer had predicted. Once Harper and Aaron had explained how jealousy was never a factor when a Immortal had more then one mate had Spencer beginning to understand exactly why Aaron hadn't reacted like he had expected him to. Spencer naturally, found the world of Immortals fascinating.

"As I'll ever be," Spencer answered just as quietly. "You likely can expect the same type of reaction I would've had if not for some outside force smothering my emotions, smoothing them down, so I didn't overreact like Jeremy did at first."

"This is why we requested a private room, one with excellent soundproofing," Harper said. "This is a five-star place so they're going to have soundproofing as a matter of course on any of the private rooms. I wouldn't want to risk one of those privacy shields on the tables for something this delicate. Besides, people would be able to see Diana's reaction and wonder what the problem was.

Aaron walked forward and gave his name to the maître d' and told them they were expecting Diana Reid in just a few minutes.

"Yes, sir, your private room has been prepared," the maître d' responded politely. "We will escort Mrs. Reid back just as soon as she arrives."

"Thank you," Aaron answered and passed the maître d' a hundred dollars, which the other man slipped into his pocket without a word.

The maître d' had one of the waiters escort them to the private room they had reserved, took their drink orders before departing after leaving each of them a menu.

"How do you want to handle this Spencer?" Harper asked her mate.

"We need to be very delicate and careful," Spencer said. "I'm not exactly sure how mom's going to react to being told about Immortals, so as I said before we entered the restaurant she'll probably react like I would have originally if not for extenuating circumstances."

"She will keep it a secret once she believes us, as she knows how dad would react if he found out," Jeremy put in. "I love my dad, but I wouldn't trust him with the secret of this magnitude, not unless the situation was totally desperate and maybe not even then."

"Mom, on the other hand, is totally the opposite from dad. I've told her things in the past that I know she never told dad or anyone and she will never betray my trust by doing so or Jeremy's either," Spencer said.

"Alright then, we'll just elude to the subject as Diana is a very intelligent lady," Brooke said.

None of the others had a chance to say anymore as the waiter brought their drink orders and also Diana.

"Hey mom," Spencer said smiling brightly always happy to see the woman who had supported him against a father who seemed hellbent on shaping Spencer into what he wanted him to be. That he hadn't succeeded thanks partially to a mother who loved her children, didn't lessen the impact of William Reid's total disdain and resentment for what he wanted of his son that he didn't get, but it did help heal some of those emotional wounds at least partially.

"Hey sweetie," Diana smiled kissing Spencer on the top of his head and then doing the same to her other son Jeremy.

"So what's this about that we have to have a private room?" Diana inquired. "All of you must have some important news if we can just eat out at a regular table."

"Well, I see where Spencer and Jeremy both get their intelligence and perceptive natures from," Brooke said smiling warmly, as she had really learned to love Diana Reid.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Diana said, but in a joking tone.

"Let's wait until we order our food," Aaron suggested.

Everyone chatted casually until the waiter came back and took everyone's orders and once the waiter had left again, Spencer who had agreed to be the spokesman started to tell his mother about the world he and Jeremy had fallen into.

"Don't think that we don't know how hard this is to believe," Jeremy said. "If you know how I reacted when Brooke tried to tell me herself you'd box my ears."

Diana actually smiled at that, though she could see that her son was being totally serious.

She would get the story on that but later.

"So if your story is true why are you telling me as it seems an incredibly good idea to keep it a secret."

"Because both Jeremy and Spencer believe you can be trusted and it helps that all of us really like you," Aaron explained.

"All of us believe that you can be trusted with this information," Harper said.

"And if you're wrong about that?" Diana asked logically.

"Then we move elsewhere and nobody will bother to search for us or believe your story. All of us are adults here, so it wouldn't be considered kidnapping unless their were signs of foul play if you decided to go to the cops," Brooke pointed out logically.

Diana nodded at this and knew now that none of them would bother to harm her, just because she had information on the existence of Immortals, which was a great relief to her that she had not misjudged her sons future wives or her future son-in-law.

"The cops would just think that you were likely delusional and maybe that you were on some kind of drugs and even if it was proved otherwise your reputation would've taken a serious hit," Aaron said.

"Neither Jeremy or I want to move away from Las Vegas or at least we don't want to move away without letting you know where we are, since we both love you very much," Spencer told his mother. "I had a hard time believing that story myself, as I'm a lot like you and the story they told me was rather fantastic, but they proved it to me so that I couldn't do anything but believe. I still find it rather unreal, but a lot of that has faded over the last several months."

"So how do you plan on proving it to me?" Diana asked with a raised eyebrow. Her sons relaxed demeanors calmed her down as they just looked as happy as they had ever since they had met Harper and Brooke respectively.

"The same way they did for me and for Jeremy," Spencer said.

"I'll do the honors this time," Brooke said calmly showing Diana her empty palm so she could see that there was no trickery and then took the knife off her plate and slashing the palm of her hand, not deeply, but enough for blood to start dripping. Jeremy gave her a handkerchief out of his pocket and Brooke took it calmly so that blood wouldn't get on the sleeve of her shirt or on the table. Diana watched avidly as Brooke held the cloth up over her palm and when she took it away the wound had disappeared though there was still streaks of blood."

"Of course, we can go for a more dramatic example, but we need more privacy for that," Harper suggested with a little twitch of her lips to let everyone know she was joking, though her tone was perfectly serious.

"And what would be more dramatic then Brooke slicing her palm as calmly as she would drink a cup of tea?" Diana asked looking shocked. She had been sure it was a hoax until Brooke had calmly sliced her palm and her son had handed her his handkerchief without a word or a look of concern, which only meant that both her sons had seen this before.

"Oh, we could take you to our house and you could shoot one of us with a real live bullet and so long as you didn't hit anything major, we would heal up in no time at all," Harper said.

"We might be mostly Immortal, but we can still die if someone were to hit an artery or something and we bled out before it could heal," Aaron explained. "Really, it's a kind of limited Immortality."

That actually made Diana feel better to know that these Immortal beings before her could still die it was just difficult to kill one.

"We can also lose our heads and if that happened yes, we would die," Brooke suggested smiling.

"Brooke!" Harper warned her sister in a scolding tone. "There's no need to say something like that as Diana is having enough trouble accepting the fact that your hand healed in just a few seconds. We don't need to give her a heart attack as she's an old lady."

"I'm fine thank you for your concern," Diana said finally getting over her shock and amazement. "My doctor told me I was in perfect health at my last appointment."

"Still, it was unnecessary to say something like that," Harper said glaring at her sister who shrugged.

"So I'm assuming you're telling me this because there is a way to turn someone Immortal, because otherwise it wouldn't make sense for Immortals like yourself to have a mate who was not," Diana said.

"No it wouldn't," Aaron agreed smiling. "The process isn't all that complicated really, but there's two different ways to do it."

"Why not just one?" Diana asked.

"Because the first method involves sex," Brooke said bluntly, "and with Harper and I being female we don't have the right equipment."

Diana didn't take more than a few seconds to work that out as she often read centuries old literature that often had extremely sexual scenes in it.

"So you're telling me you turn a female mortal through sex," Diana said.

"Well, our seed carries our DNA, our lifeforce within it, so while it takes awhile to do it that way it's the way that all male Immortals turn their mates," Aaron shrugged. "However, since Brooke and Harper are female the method for Spencer and Jeremy is going to be a little different."

"Well, the only option I see is blood, as blood also carries our DNA and is one of the major things that gives us life for without it we would die," Diana said.

"Exactly," Harper said smiling. "It doesn't really take much blood to turn someone Immortal because our blood is ancient and powerful and will overtake normal human cells within hours. Of course, our blood looks normal enough on causal examination, even under a microscope, but if you truly studied it you would begin to see differences."

"So is it normal for an Immortal to have more than one mate?" asked Diana

"You know, Jeremy asked me the same thing several months back, and I told him know that only happens once every few centuries," Brooke answered. "Our father was one of the lucky ones that had more than one mate, but then Ilithyia, the goddess we know created us likes Immortals who are intelligent, understanding and go out of their way to help those that need it without expecting to be thanked for it or rewarded."

"We were once human so just like any humans we have our bad eggs to and Ilithyia always punishes those that go to against her strictures," Harper said.

"Ilithyia is another name for Eileithyia a minor goddess and part of the Greek pantheon. Also known as Eleuthia or Elysia in Laconia, Messene, and Eleuthō in literature and is the Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery."

"Well, I can see there are some advantages to being an ancient literature professor," Jeremy smiled.

"Yes, it's not information many people know anymore," Diana admitted looking rather melancholy. "I've never really believed that these gods and goddesses existed, though it was so long ago that they supposedly did that it's possible, I suppose."

"I know how much trouble it is to accept that at least some of these supreme beings are still around," Aaron said. "But they supposedly survive on worship and most Immortals do indeed worship Ilithyia at least, because she's the one that created the Immortal race."

"So what's the story behind the creation of the Immortals?" Diana asked.

Everyone took turns telling the story and Diana listened nodding. "There were many diseases back then that could and did knock out whole villages as technology, particularly medical technology wasn't as advanced as it is now. No, there was minimum technology back then and hardly any medicines to cure diseases that are so easily cured today. There was hardly any technology at all really, except things like plows. I could definitely see Ilithyia wanting to save her people from dropping like flies until there was no one left as she was according to literature more compassionate than some of the other gods and goddess who could be arrogant in the extreme, though they had moments of compassion to. Yes, I can see it like that, as Ilithyia was the goddess of childbirth and midwifery, which is likely what made her more compassionate then some of the others supposedly were."

"We certainly believe her to be compassionate, though she can also be very fierce when an Immortal breaks one of her few strictures," Harper said.

"So what was taken away from Immortals in order for your race to prosper?" Diana asked. "Something had to be taken away, as there has to be a balance in all things. Just letting Immortals exist without taking something away from them would upset that balance."

"Well, you really are as intelligent as your sons claim you are," Aaron said smiling. "I doubt if I had been told the same story you have I would've been able to think of that right away, as I likely still would've been in complete shock and denial for quite awhile afterwards."

"Everybody is different," Diana shrugged. "I'm sure I'll have a reaction later once I've had time to think all this through, something I'll do when Will's at work so I'll be over it by the time he gets home. I doubt he would notice in any case, as he is usually oblivious to that kind of thing, which is why he never saw how much he was hurting Spencer by his continuing attempts to get him to follow the course of action he wanted instead of just letting him be himself, but you never know. Perhaps, if he had, he would've stopped before Spencer at least resented him."

"Yes, something had to be done to compensate for Immortals gaining Immortality," Harper agreed. "Ilithyia made it so that Immortal females had trouble having children. Our kind can only have a child every 70 or 75 years and we only have one at a time normally."

"They're are exceptions such as in the case of Harper and her sister Brooke," Aaron said. "Sometimes, Ilithyia can be very pleased with a particular Immortal and so grants them the ability to have children more often or allows him to have twins instead of a singleton."

"So you're saying that you can only have children every seven decades," Diana said trying not to look disappointed.

"I'm afraid so, though we have talked a little about IVF, but we haven't looked into that too closely yet, as it would have to be done by an Immortal doctor," Brooke said. "It's one reason why the Immortal community is still a small one, because we would soon outnumber mortals if we could have children as frequently as they did. Not all Immortals are responsible, just like all mortals are not responsible and wouldn't limit the number of children they had, so it's just as well really. I might want 4 or 5 children at one time, but I can also understand why Ilithyia had to arrange things the way she did."

"Which shows great maturity," Diana said approvingly.

"Well, I am hundreds of years old so I should be mature," Brooke said with a smile on her face.

Harper snorted at that, but was polite enough to say nothing.

"We plan on doing that sometime in the next year or two just so your husband can't complain that we are not giving him any grandchildren."

"He wouldn't dare, not after the lecture I gave him after the dinner where you announced your engagements and his reaction was lackluster to say the least," Diana said. "Still, I would like grandchildren if possible, even if they're adopted ones."

"We'll look into it, mom," Jeremy who had been mostly silent said. "I would love children to and not in seven decades."

"We just have to make sure it's not against one of Ilithyia's stricture, because what a god giveth they can taketh away," Harper said.

"Well, hopefully, I'll have grandchildren in a few years and I'll never let Will know that it was done through IVF or about Immortals at all as he wouldn't react well as we all know," Diana said. "I doubt he would react well, even if you gave him a demonstration like you gave me."

"Definitely not," Spencer snorted, his disdain for his father clear in his tone and expression and Diana couldn't find it in her heart to censure him for it either considering what Will had put his oldest son through over the years. In fact, she felt Spencer's reaction was rather mild considering.

"Thank you for that," Harper said. "We really appreciate that you're willing to keep such a secret from your husband."

"Will would never accept Immortals were real and probably think all of you belong in the loony bin," Diana said smiling causing everyone to chuckle.

"Well, it is a rather loony tale," Aaron said smiling. "It might be true, but that doesn't make it any less fantastical, especially in today's society."

"So why haven't you turned my sons Immortal sister is a relatively harmless way to do it?" Diana asked.

"Because we want to check with a doctor we know before we do so as we've never done it by syringe before," Brooke explained. "Or at least not that we know of."

"It's always been drank out of a cup of some kind and yes, I know how gross that is," Harper said. "That's the only way that my father or Aunt Emily have ever seen it being done, which doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't been done with a syringe at least once and probably more than once."

"There's really no way to keep in connect with other Immortals unless you know them personally and know their link number," Aaron said.

"Still, you must have some way to identify yourselves when you do run into each other," Diana said.

"Sure we do," Brooke said showing Diana the lapel pin she was wearing as well as the necklace, the ones with the backwards slightly crooked Z with a line through the middle. "This is a symbol for Immortals and Harper and I both received them from our family on our 30th birthdays, as that is the day an Immortal stops aging completely, at least physically."

"We do continue mature mentally and emotionally, just not physically," Harper said,

"Which explains why you look about the age of my sons," Diana said.

"Which is good if you ask me, because a lot of people judge on appearances, so at least we all look of similar age, so there will be no comments about how he's too old for her or she's too young for him," Spencer said.

"Or what's that old geezer doing with that young woman," Brooke suggested with twinkling eyes.

Everyone snorted at that one, because they knew some people would and could make such comments.

"I sincerely hope that your idea for IVF does work, because as I said I would like grandchildren, but if it doesn't...," Diana said. "I'll handle Will if that happens."

"I think we need to concentrate on getting the wedding out of the way before we think about having children. Technically, I'm only about five years from being able to have children naturally because it's been about 65 years since Aaron and I had one."

"She always has twins and that means that Ilithyia favors her, because it wouldn't happen otherwise, even though twins run in her family," Brooke said.

"So do you think you'll have twins whenever you do get pregnant even if that's the artificial means?" Diana asked looking wistful.

"I don't really know, though it would be nice," Brooke said. "I certainly hope I do, as I've always thought that Immortals only having one child every hundred years is for the birds. I mean if you live close by with other Immortals then at least your child would have playmates, but mostly Immortals don't live close to each other, at least not that we're aware of."

"Some Immortals are just like regular people and only want one child at a time, which is just fine, but Brooke and I have always loved children as we're like our father in that way," Harper said.

"Our father in particular adores children and since he has three mates well he could have at least three at a time, but our mother always had twins which just goes to show that our family has Ilithyia's favor."

"If we do end up using the IVF process twins are more likely than just a singleton, but that's several years down the road at least,"Aaron said.

"You know all I ever wanted was for my children to marry and have families of their own so as long as Spencer and Jeremy are happy then I'll keep your secrets," Diana promised. "You're certainly not harming anyone just because you're a little different from ordinary people."

"That's one way to put it," Aaron laughed with a pleased smile.

"Thanks mom," Jeremy said as he kissed her cheek.

"Yeah, thanks, mom," Spencer echoed his brother.

"Considering I've been wanting you to get married for fifteen years I can't really complain that you have finally found someone to love, now can I?" Diana said with a twinkle in her blue eyes.

"You could, as dad certainly would if you hadn't lectured him," Spencer said smiling. "Thank you for that, by the way, as I feared he would try to interfere with my marriage too Harper simply because he doesn't approve of multiple marriages."

"Trust me, he won't dare do anything, as he and I would at least be having a conversation and he wouldn't like what I had to say," Diana snorted, though she did understand her son's fears, considering that Will had been trying to interfere in Spencer's life ever since he was a small child. Just because Will finally understood that he had driven a wedge between all his children and himself because of his attitude towards Spencer didn't make what his oldest son suffered any better. "I threatened to divorce him and told him I would've done so years ago if I didn't want my children to have their father and also there were financial concerns, since Will does bring in a lot more than I do with my teaching. Since all my children are grown up now though, that's no longer an issue."

"That's the last thing that dad would want," Jeremy explained to everyone. "Image to him is important and he wouldn't want anything to disrupt the image that he has the perfect family."

"Image is one thing, but it's what's underneath that image that matters," Harper said. "Still, I do understand that image to a lot of people is important, even if I don't particularly agree."

All of them continued to chat for sometime after their plates had been taken away and they enjoyed dessert and coffee and Diana learned quite a bit about the world of Immortals and how they had to be careful not to draw attention to themselves.

Diana knew instinctively that she would be learning about Immortals for years to come and that two of her children would soon join the Immortal community.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	26. Chapter 26

Part 26

Having Diana know about Immortality was a great weight of everyone's minds, but life went on regardless.

It was some months later when it was finally time for the double wedding ceremony as everything had been arranged. In fact, Brooke and Harper and Diana had been hip deep in wedding preparations for six months, had discussed things like wedding dresses and what type of venue they wanted, they talked about where they wanted to hold the reception and what kind of decorations they wanted to use. They talked about cakes and what kind they wanted or it they wanted two, since it was going to be a double ceremony one for each couple and about what kind of food they wanted at the reception. Money wasn't an issue since Harper and Brooke's father was paying for the bulk of the cost, something that made William Reid a little happier at least causing Spencer and Jeremy to both roll their eyes when they heard about their father's reaction. It wasn't like the Senior Reid didn't make boatloads of money as an attorney so spending a little bit of it on wedding preparations would not exactly have put him in the poor house. Hell, the man could retire right this very minute and have enough to live in style for the rest of his life, which could be well over 200 years now and yet, spending a few thousand on preparations for the wedding made him grumble as if it was somehow going to make him destitute.

Both Jeremy and Spencer just ignored the man who still wasn't happy about Spencer in particular getting married since Harper already had one husband. So long as the Senior Reid didn't interfere in the wedding preparations or the ceremony itself then Spencer could just ignore the man that was his father. He doubted he'd see the man very much after his marriage as he suspected that he and his mother would have dinner once a month or so at some restaurant. Actually, he hadn't really seen much of his father in years since he had stopped coming over for dinner at his childhood home and Spencer couldn't believe that the man that he shared his DNA with was so selfish that he didn't realize that he hardly saw any of his children. Oh, Whitney had dinner with the family at least once a week, but mostly for her children's sake not for her own.

At the moment Spencer, Harper, Aaron, Brooke and Jeremy were sitting in the massive living room of the Rossi family home in San Diego.

"So the wedding is next week and I can hardly wait," Penelope squealed.

"Neither can we," Emily said grinning. "It's always a happy day when an Immortal meets their mate and that two of them met them at basically the same time is pretty amazing."

"I'm sure it's happened before, though probably not very often," JJ said. "I'm also really looking forward to the wedding next week."

"So are we, but before that happy day well we want to turn Spencer and Jeremy Immortal," said Brooke.

"Graciela should be here any minute," Dave promised. "We'll have a chance to ask her about turning them Immortal by syringe, which should work, but we'll check with Graciela first."

"We might as well mention the possibility of having a few children by IVF in 2 or 3 years once she's here," Spencer said. "I'm not sure it's possible for an Immortal to have children that way, or if it is if it's an offense to Ilithyia."

"Something we definitely never want to do, but still it doesn't hurt to ask," Harper said.

"No, it doesn't hurt to ask," Dave agreed.

"Personally, I think it will be okay to go through the IVF process, because exceptions have to be made when you marry into a mortal family that will likely expect children in a few years. I firmly believe that Ilithyia would have made exceptions for this kind of situation. Alright, perhaps, back when Dave and Emily were born or some of the older Immortals it wouldn't have been too surprising if there were no children in the marriage, but with the advances of medical technology most times having children is possible, even if it takes medical intervention first," Aaron said. "Sure, in some cases, a woman just isn't capable of having a child or carrying it to term despite the fact that medical technology has advanced so much, but when that's the case there's always adoption or using a surrogate."

"Also, I could see William Reid accepting the fact that say Harper and Spencer couldn't have any children because they just weren't that compatible biologically or because of some other problem, but I couldn't see him accepting that both Spencer and Jeremy never had kids. One couple not having children in a family might be disappointing but understandable, but not two. No, two couples in the same family not having children twins or not would be rather suspicious, especially considering that Harper and Brooke are not identical," JJ said.

"That's a good point," Jeremy admitted looking at his brother who was looking at his younger sibling at the same time with understanding in his dark brown eyes.

"I truly believe that Ilithyia would've looked into the future and saw this problem arising," said Aaron. "I don't want us to have to move away from Las Vegas just to avoid Spencer's and Jeremy's father because that would hurt his mother and his siblings, so hopefully, the IVF process will work."

"I have to agree that dad is the type to interfere whether or not it's wanted," Spencer said quietly. "We also can't discount my other siblings who will want us to have kids they can spoil, though they likely won't pressure us the way dad likely will. All of us might end up moving at some point, even though that would upset mom, but right now the situation is under control thanks to mom giving dad a lecture, but that won't last forever."

"It could very well come to the point where mom has to fulfill her threat and divorce him and she'll do so if necessary. I don't believe that she'll be too upset about it at least after her initial reaction passes. I really don't believe that mom loves dad very much anymore but she stayed so that her children would have a father and also due to money issues," Jeremy said.

"Well, university professors don't really make enough to support eight children," Penelope suggested. "They can support 3 possibly 4 with their salary, though things would be rather tight, but definitely not eight, not unless they have some kind of outside income."

"That's exactly what mom said as one of her reasons for staying," Spencer said. "Besides, I have no doubt that dad would have taken her to court to have control of at least his oldest son and possibly all of us, so it was just as well that mom didn't go that route, because I doubt she would've had the money to fight that kind of thing. Who knows how any of us would've turned out if father had had control of us without a mother in the picture. I mean, even if he decided he wanted marry again after the divorce was final, some woman isn't going to want to deal with eight children from another marriage, unless she's very unusual."

"Now, that you are all grown though, it's possible their marriage will end in divorce at some point which would be rather sad, but it happens all the time," Emily said.

"Yeah, it does and I might wish that dad was a better man or maybe I should say that he was a good man once, but he's changed a lot," Jeremy said.

"We'll talk to Graciela about it, as soon as she arrives, which should be any minute now," Dave said. "I agree with your logical arguments by the way, because yes, Ilithyia should have seen this happening. Not every Immortal that has a mortal mate is going to be lucky enough that they have no close family or at least family that doesn't care whether or not their children can give them grandchildren. It simply goes against the law of averages. Since it's a good idea to keep mortals from getting suspicious, even if they can't really prove anything I can see Ilithyia allowing the IVF process to work instead of it not working no matter how many attempts are made. However, I can't see her allowing it to work under most circumstances, because it would be a way for Immortals to circumvent having children every 70 or 75 years."

"So you think it will work only under very unusual circumstances," Aaron said thoughtfully.

"I think it will likely only work when an Immortal meets their mate who happens to be mortal and they happen to have a family that would want grandchildren in a few years, as a lot of families are known to demand their child divorce whoever they're married to if children are not produced in a reasonable amount of time," Dave corrected. "I, however, can't see it working more than once per Immortal, but I could be wrong about that. It would certainly be a way to limit the number of children an Immortal has due to the process and if they happen to get twins or triplets, which happens more often when somebody goes through that particular procedure, well then, they can consider themselves lucky."

"That does make a lot of sense," Harper decided. "It's a way for an Immortal to have children, even when it hasn't been 70 to 75 years and even if they can only use it once or possibly twice if they have two mates both of which happened to be mortal when they met, ones with close family ties."

"And so long as we have at least one child dad won't have any reason to complain, even if he wants us to have as many as he and mom did," Jeremy said.

"I don't see why we can't implant at least two eggs into each of us," Brooke said. "Twins run in our family anyway, both sides."

The doorbell rang and Dave rose striding quickly to check the camera that was over the door outside.

"Come in, Graciela," Dave greeted his old friend smiling, kissing her cheek.

"Well, that's quite a greeting," Graciela smiled.

"You're always welcome you know that and not just when we need you for something," Dave said, as he escorted her into the living area.

"So I understand that you have some medical questions for me that you didn't want to talk about over the link," Graciela said once Dave had escorted her to one of the chairs in the living area, where she sat down very gracefully crossing her legs.

"Here at least let me get you something to drink before the discussion begins," Dave offered.

"Some tea will be fine David, you know what I like," Graciela said.

"I'll get it," Emily said. "It shouldn't take long for the tea to steep. You go ahead and start your discussion and I'll be back in a few minutes."

Emily rose and disappeared down a short hallway that led to the kitchen.

"So what questions did you have for me?" Graciela asked once Emily had disappeared.

"We were just wondering if it was possible to turn someone Immortal by use of injection instead of them drinking one of our bloods," Harper said.

"Why do you want to know?" Graciela asked. "I just want to make sure you ask him for the right reason, though I have no doubt you are, as Dave isn't the type to allow just anyone to be turned Immortal and from what I know of you, you aren't either, still, I have to ask, as I do have a responsibility."

"Because both Brooke and I have met our mates," Harper explained. "Aaron and I always knew that we had a second mate and it was last year that we finally met him."

"And I met Jeremy at basically the same time," Brooke further explained. "It helps that Spencer and Jeremy are brothers."

Graciela blinked in shock at that. "Well, that's rather unusual, though I won't claim it hasn't happened before."

"It's nice to meet you I'm Spencer Reid and this is my brother Jeremy," Spencer introduced himself and his brother.

"It's nice to meet you too and I'm very happy for all of you," Graciela said.

"Thank you we've been very happy since we've met them," Aaron said smiling. "Spencer and I are certainly pretty close and our bond will only deepen once he's Immortal. Yes, I know it's a given that mates always get along whether they just have a sibling type relationship or it's a sexual one, but still...

"The same of course is true for me and Jeremy," Brooke said.

"Yes, I understand what you mean," Graciela agreed with a calm expression. "As to your question of a few minutes ago yes, it's possible to turn someone Immortal by syringe, though it's not a method that used to often, mostly because Immortals are slow to think of new ways to do things a lot of times not when the old method works just fine. Also most females Immortals have mates that are already Immortal themselves, so using such a method isn't necessary. It really isn't very common for a female Immortal to have a mate that is not already one of their own race, as there really aren't more than maybe 35,000 or 40,000 Immortals in the world, which really isn't so many considering how long the Immortal race has existed."

"So you're saying it's possible, but it's not a common method mostly because Immortals get stuck in their ways," Spencer said and Graciela nodded.

"It's not really uncommon you know for that to happen not even with mortals who sometimes get stuck when it comes to their thinking processes, but it's more common with Immortals, mostly because we live for so long and not all of us like to learn new things," JJ said quietly. "In this house we try to do new things so we don't get stuck in a rut, but we're not always successful."

"We take plenty of vacations and we did this even when we had children," Penelope added. "We would leave the children with Dave's parents mostly, though Emily's helped out as well."

"Everybody needs a break once in awhile," Jeremy suggested. "I know how tough it is to raise even one child much less as many as my parents had."

"Especially when your father's not very accommodating," Spencer snorted.

"Well, not everybody is a fit parent," Graciela said, seeing that there was some tension between Spencer and his father, but since she didn't know anything about the situation it wasn't her right to comment.

"Now that's the truth," Harper snorted. "I met Spencer and Jeremy's father and trust me, he never should've had children, but on the other hand, we're all glad he did. On the third hand, he might've changed a lot when he and Diana met and married, as that also happens quite a bit."

"So when would you like to turn these two handsome young men Immortal?" Graciela asked, looking at Spencer and Jeremy admiringly, even though she had been mated for a very long time. That didn't mean however that she couldn't enjoy the scenery.

Both Spencer and Jeremy blushed at Graciela's admiring gaze.

"As soon as possible as our wedding is next week, a double ceremony," Aaron said. "You and your mate are, of course, invited.

"We'd like to go on our honeymoon after they're already Immortal so we want to get it out of the way," Brooke said.

"That way we don't have to worry about it later," Harper added.

"Well, I didn't bring any supplies today, because I wasn't sure what you all wanted to talk to me about, but I can do it tomorrow or even tonight as it won't take me long to gather the appropriate supplies. All I really need are some syringes and then I'll just draw some of your blood and then inject it into Spencer and Jeremy."

"So how long will this process take?" asked Spencer mostly due to his scientific curiosity.

"It varies from person to person, but if we inject you with more than one syringe of blood like at least three or four in different veins the process will be faster. I would say no more than 6 to 8 hours. In other words, the amount of time most people spend sleeping, so it'll be done by morning."

"Any side effects?" Jeremy asked.

"You might want to watch out for dizziness as that happens sometimes so be careful getting to your feet, but mostly that's the only side effect you need to watch out for," Graciela explained.

"I think that Ilithyia made it simple on purpose so that no mortal would object to being turned Immortal, because if it was painful or there was a lot of nasty side effects who would want to go through it?" Emily said, as she came back into the living area with a tray of tea items.

"And it's one of our most serious strictures that you cannot force your mate to be turned Immortal as it has to be done willingly," Penelope said. "I was more than willing when I met Dave to be turned Immortal, because I had been having dreams about our future, but not everybody is as lucky to have a touch of the sight, to actually know where their future lies."

Dave placed a gentle hand on Penelope's shoulder kissing her on the temple with obvious affection.

Everybody else in the room watched this smiling, but did not comment on the tender, touching moment.

"Well, I'm glad to know it's so simple," Jeremy said looking rather relieved. "I'm also glad to know that the injection method will work, because I wasn't looking forward to drinking blood, much less somebody else's blood."

"Can't really blame you," Graciela said smiling. "It is rather gross, but it's also mostly the way it's been done for thousands of years. Yes, things like blood transfusions have been around for a very long time, but most Immortals never think about being able to inject blood into someone system, instead of just drinking it. It just never occurs to them that there could be a different way. It's a blank spot in an Immortal's way of thinking if you will. I will admit that some of the younger Immortals do think of it, ones that were born at least in the 20th century."

"Now all of us have another rather personal question if you don't mind," Spencer said.

"What's your question?" Graciela asked smiling.

"All of us at been talking about having children, I mean sooner then normal," Harper explained.

"I'm afraid that my family will never accept it if we don't have any children a few years down the road," Jeremy explained.

"It's our father in particular we are worried about," Spencer said. "As Jeremy and I have explained our relationship there is rather rocky and he's been known to interfere in my life more than once over the years."

"So you think he'll want you to divorce Harper if you don't have at least one child within a reasonable amount of time," Graciela said in understanding.

"I have no doubt he will and I'd rather not have that kind of confrontation, as we'll just argue about it and though he won't get his way, it will only cause tension and discord, which will be hard on the rest of the family, my mother in particular. I'd rather avoid that kind of confrontation altogether if possible," Spencer explained.

"If it was just Spencer than it's reasonable to think that he and Harper just are not compatible enough to have a child or that something is wrong," Jeremy explained. "But since the two of us are brothers well, one of us not having a child might disappoint our parents, it happens, even if not often, but not both of us, especially not with the advancement in medical technology, particularly in things like pediatrics."

"What does your mother think about you having children?" Graciela asked.

"She wants more grandchildren of course, as only one sister and one brother is married and only my sister Whitney has children, but she understands it might not be possible until after she's passed on," Jeremy said.

Graciela's gaze sharpened at that. "You told her about Immortals?"

"Our mom, Diana Reid is trustworthy and has always supported me, particularly against dad trying to force me into his own mold, so yes, we told her, fairly recently actually. She'll never reveal what she knows to anyone, especially to dad who would never understand," Spencer said.

Graciela nodded at this. "It's very rare for a mortal woman to not be up able to have children, even if it requires some kind of operation or other medical treatment, but it does happen, so you're right that it would be rather suspicious if both of you didn't have any children within say five years."

"Which is why we're wondering if IVF will work for an Immortal," Aaron said and Graciela nodded.

"It will, and yes, it is acceptable to use it in such a situation as you described to me," said Graciela.

"So you've done it before?" Dave who had been silent asked with avid interest.

"Yes, but rarely, as it doesn't occur to most Immortals to even think about IVF and it only works under certain circumstances," Graciela said.

"Hah! I was right!" Dave exclaimed looking triumphant and Graciela looked at him as if he lost his mind. "Sorry, but it is something that all of us were just discussing before you got here. I was just suggesting that if IVF was a viable option it probably only worked under certain circumstances, because I couldn't see Ilithyia allowing it to work just so an Immortal couple could have a child ahead of schedule. I was just speculating that the only way I could see it working was that if an Immortal's mate was mortal at the time they met and had close family ties. The parents would likely be expecting to have grandchildren within a few years and since keeping Immortals a secret is so important I could see Ilithyia allowing IVF to work under those circumstances. Alright, they may never figure out the true reason a couple has no children, but still it's best to keep a low profile and not make anybody suspicious in the first place."

"Well, you were right," Graciela said smiling.

"I know how Ilithyia thinks by now or at the very least I can usually come up with a reasonable theory that turns out at least partially correct," Dave said modestly.

"So I take it you brought up this subject now so I could be prepared," Graciela said.

"Well that, and we wanted to know if it was possible or not," Jeremy said.

"It takes a load off our minds as we would have always wondered if it would work. Now we know," Brooke said.

"This way we can enjoy our separate honeymoons without having to worry about it," said Harper.

"Yes, it takes a load off all of our minds," Spencer said.

"Yes, I see how you would be anxious to know," Graciela admitted.

"I wonder though, why Ilithyia allows IVF to work instead of just making the Immortal in question conceive ahead of schedule," Spencer asked.

"Because even gods have rules they must follow and sometimes they can bend them like they did for all of us," JJ said gesturing to her family.

"But they also likely can't bend them too often as that would likely disrupt things that shouldn't be disrupted. However, that doesn't mean that they can't get around the rules by using an outside technology to have children another way and that way they aren't breaking or bending rules to much. Who knows what kind of responsibility that any god or goddess has so that they don't disrupt the normal flow of the universe or something. I mean we don't know what kind of responsibility they have compared to our own," Graciela said.

"Well, I've always heard that with great power comes great responsibility," Jeremy said and Spencer nodded.

"You got that from an old Spiderman comic didn't you," Dave grinned, as he had used to love those centuries ago.

"Maybe," Jeremy said smiling.

"And that doesn't mean that they can't bend them occasionally like they do for Harper and I as every time we have children we always have twins, which is rather unusual for Immortals," said Aaron.

"Or for me and my mates," Dave added smiling.

"Which just shows you have Ilithyia favor," Graciela said.

"So if I can ask you another question," Spencer said and Graciela nodded.

"Will we be able to use IVF only once for both of us or can we use it several times?" Spencer asked. "If I can only have one child or twins as the case might be then I'll be content with that, but I doubt my father would be."

"Yes, you can use it several times and it will work. Of course, it doesn't pay to be greedy, but if you wanted to do it two or three times apiece then that would be okay, as I've had Immortals use it that many times," Graciela said. "It doesn't happen often, since it doesn't occur to most Immortals who have just met their mates, but occasionally it does."

"To be able to have at least three children so close together and much sooner then I expected would be a dream come true," Brooke said. "Yes, I know it's only this once, but still, it will be great to have at least three children within a few years, especially since they will be my first."

"Which will definitely keep both mom and dad happy, even if that's for different reasons," Jeremy added. "Dad's reasons will be far less altruistic then mom's who just wants grandchildren to love."

"That's something we agree on," Harper smiled.

"With both of us having twins running in our families the likelihood of having at least two every time increases considerably," Spencer mentioned.

"Yes, it does," Graciela agreed. "I won't be surprised if you have at least one set of twins for each of you and that's only if you implant a single embryo instead of two."

"Well, I would be prepared for having them in any case, considering I always have twins as you know and though that's with Aaron I can't see Spencer and I being any different, especially since he has two sisters that are twins. Of course, we're talking identical here not fraternal like I've always had in the past," Harper said. "In fact, I would like to implant two embryos into my uterus when we do go through the IVF process and hopefully, both of them will catch. If one of the embryos happens to split in the petri dish, which will give us identical twins I'll take that one as well, even if I've never carried triplets before."

"Yes, Ilithyia, has indeed blessed the two of you, just like she did the rest of your family before they finally decided to stop having children," Graciela said. "I know you're aware that one or both those embryos could split in the womb as well, so you better be prepared for that."

"Yes, we have indeed been blessed and we are very grateful," JJ said kissing Dave's cheek. "Especially since for a long time I feared I'd never be able to have children of my own."

"Even if we never went through the IVF process," Emily said smiling.

"Your fears soon proved groundless," Penelope said smiling.

"Yeah, they were," JJ said smiling, clearly remembering that day. "A happy day indeed."

"I will come to either here or your place tonight with the necessary supplies," Graciela added. "I firmly believe that Ilithyia made it easy on purpose, because this has been happening for centuries now and it wasn't until fairly recently that we've had more advanced medical technology."

"We've had advanced medical technology for centuries now," Spencer protested.

"Alright, fairly recently, from an Immortal's perspective," Graciela corrected smiling.

"I would say do it at our place, as there's no point of doing it here since this isn't home anymore," Brooke said.

"As much as we love all you guys all our stuff and also Spencer's and Jeremy's stuff is in Las Vegas and there's no point of packing a bag for what's going to be a simple procedure to come somewhere that isn't as familiar to Spencer and Jeremy at least," Harper said.

"They have a point," Emily said gently when it was clear Penelope was about to protest.

"Their lives are their own now and have been for a long time," Dave reminded his mate gently. He could understand Penelope not wanting to cut the apron strings completely, but whether she admitted it or not they had been cut for sometime. That wasn't to say that they wouldn't always be close to their youngest children, but Harper had been mated ever since the day after her 30th birthday and Brooke was about to become so. Still, Dave could understand that Penelope at least regretted a little the thought of never having anymore children, but they had all agreed several centuries ago that it was time to do so. He would just have to find some way to distract her for awhile and eventually the desire to have more children would fade, even though it had been several centuries already.

It wasn't a constant desire, Dave knew, and came upon Penelope unexpectedly particularly when she was around her youngest children who were all grown up. It made her yearn just a little for some more of her own, but they were done having children, which had been a mutual decision. Perhaps, it was time to take another vacation, somewhere exotic, where they could just lay on the beach, eat exotic food that he didn't have to prepare and just explore some of the shops and the history of wherever they decided to go.

"I think that's the way we should do it," Spencer commented and saw all the others nod in agreement. "If I'm going to do this I'd rather be comfortable and I am at our place in Vegas."

"It can be done in your own bed," Graciela promised. "After all, it's not a invasive procedure and it's not like it's major surgery, which is a good thing or we wouldn't have been able to accomplish turning a female Immortal's mate a thousand years ago, since technology was much less advanced and in some areas very minimal. Most female Immortals mates might be Immortal themselves, but it still happens that sometimes they're not, which I'm sure you've figured out is because there's only so many Immortals around and although 35,000 or 40,000 might seem like a lot it's really not and there were far less of us centuries ago."

"Not when you think about how many people that are on planet earth alone," Spencer immediately agreed.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	27. Chapter 27

Part 27

"How do you feel?" Harper asked Spencer gently, as soon as he had awoken the next morning.

Graciela had arrived yesterday evening as promised right after what would have been the dinner hour. Also, as promised the procedure was very simple and even an Immortal who wasn't a doctor who knew anything about the human body could've done it. All you really needed to know were where the major arteries were located and they were in several in different spots and also how to stick a needle in a vein, preferably, with as little pain as possible.

Since Graciela was a doctor there was no problem and Spencer was soon injected in several different spots, with both Aaron's and Harper's blood. Both bloods were used for the simple fact that both of them loved him in different ways and this would make them all feel closer, but also it meant that one of them would lose less blood so neither of them would have to worry about being tired or dizzy from to much loss of blood at once.

Both Aaron and Harper had watched over Spencer protectively, before the two of them had finally succumbed to slumber exhausted.

They had only woken when they had felt Spencer move, as they were sleeping on either side of him.

"Fine," Spencer answered automatically then truly accessed how he was feeling. "I feel great actually, better than I've ever felt in my life. I've never been one that got sick very often, but I certainly feel better than I ever have."

"And you should," Aaron told him smiling ruffling Spencer's already sleep tousled hair and Spencer accepted the gesture smiling. Anybody else tousling his hair besides Harper of course, he would have ducked away automatically from them, but Aaron and Harper had that privilege and they were the only ones besides his mother who had used to like to tousle his hair as a boy and still did so sometimes.

"I think it's time for the acid test though, so we get it out of the way so we won't worry about it," Harper said producing a letter opener that she had brought upstairs last night from the office.

"Do you want to do it yourself or do you want one of us to do it for you?" Aaron asked.

"I don't think that's necessary guys," Spencer said calmly smiling. "I feel the connection that you always told me was there, kind of like an empty place in my heart has been filled. I wouldn't be feeling if I wasn't now Immortal like the two of you, would I?" Spencer asked.

"You might if you were partially Immortal," Harper said not looking positive. "Still, you would make me feel better if you would just slash your palm a little, just to make sure, you know?"

"Just a little cut, you don't need to do it too deeply," Aaron said Spencer finally gave in, knowing it would be assure both his mates if he did as asked.

"Well, if it will make you feel better," Spencer told them smiling at their concern, which was more than understandable.

"It will," Harper said. "I want you around for the next thousand years, just like I do Aaron, so it's best just to make sure."

"Alright then," Spencer said, as Harper handed him the letter opener that was sharp enough to cut his palm easily. He slashed his palm and everybody watched as the shallow cut healed instantly. "I think the two of you can relax now."

"Yeah, we can," Harper said, as she practically lept into his arms kissing him deeply. "I just wanted to be sure, you know?"

"I know," Spencer said smiling. "It's why I was willing to oblige you. Now that we know I am Immortal, just like Graciela promised, we can all stop worrying about it."

"Well, I'll just go fix some breakfast then after we've all showered together," Harper said smiling broadly. "I also want to check on Jeremy and Brooke."

"You don't need to worry," Spencer told Harper kissing her gently. "If it worked for me then it would've worked for my brother. Graciela has been a doctor for centuries, so she's not going to make any kind of the mistake, not on such a simple procedure."

"I have to agree as all that would happen is if she overdid it with the blood was that Jeremy would change faster and if she didn't give him enough he would still change, just at a slower rate," Aaron said.

"You're right, I'll try to quit worrying," Harper said.

"I doubt we'll see Brooke or Jeremy for awhile, since Brooke at least has never been an early riser," Aaron said smiling.

"Now that's something I can get behind and I want to get started on that right after breakfast," Harper said grinning from ear to ear. "We'll need our energy I promise you, as I plan on keeping you very occupied for the next few hours anyway."

Spencer blushed right on cue, but he was still looking forward to it and both Harper and Aaron were well aware of it. "I had forgotten that in order for the connection to be complete I'm the one that has to..."

"Spurt your semen into me," Harper said. "It's not like we haven't done plenty of that already, but the bond that is between an Immortal and their mate couldn't be formed until you were Immortal yourself. I have to admit that if I hadn't bonded to Aaron immediately after my 30th birthday I could have had sex with plenty of guys and not have to worry about turning one of them Immortal. I won't say I was a complete virgin before I met Aaron, since I did date in college, but I admit, I wasn't as prolific as some girls, because I wanted to concentrate on my studies."

"I think it's totally unfair that all us guys really have to be careful to use a condom when we have sex with a mortal while the women don't have that problem," Aaron mock complained smiling.

"Look at it this way," Spencer suggested. "You might be able to turn someone Immortal or at least start to, but the female Immortals have the opposite problem. They can't turn someone Immortal by having sex with a male, not even their mate and it takes an injection of an Immortal's blood to do so. Using a Immortal's blood might be quicker, but having sex over a few months is certainly more pleasant."

"He does have a point, Aaron," Harper said. "Really, I think we are pretty equal in that area."

"I agree," Aaron said. "It wasn't a serious complaint."

"We know," Spencer and Harper said together both smiling.

"So let's go fix some breakfast before we come back up here," Harper said.

"We might want to contact your family just to let them know it worked and mine too," Aaron suggested.

"Why don't you do that while I fix a massive breakfast for us, because believe me, you both will need it or at least Spencer and I will," Harper suggested.

"We'll all need it, because I don't mind if Aaron joins in as he's your mate too and has certainly been mated to you a lot longer than I have," Spencer said.

"You're sure?" Aaron asked searching Spencer's face. "I can make myself scarce for a few hours if that's the way you want it. I won't be upset I promise, because when you have more than one mate you're always spending individual time with each of them."

"That's the way multiple relationships work if you do it right that is," Harper said. "My father is always spending individual time with each of his mates, though they do a lot of things together too."

"No, I think I'd be more comfortable with all of us there as that's the way we've been doing it ever since we met," Spencer said. "When we go on our honeymoon after the wedding next week, we could try it with just Harper and me at least once and I'll see if I'm comfortable with that. I suppose that I just got so comfortable with all of us at least being in the same room..."

"Whatever you want is just fine," Aaron promised him smiling. "If you're not comfortable making love to Harper alone then we'll work up to it."

"Yes, we will, as we do understand that you didn't date very much before you met Aaron and I," Harper said. "It's not like I'm going to object Aaron being there since he's my mate to."

"And that's the point I was trying to make," Spencer said. "He's always been there whenever we were being intimate and I understood why at the time, since I knew the two of you were married and now that I know everything that's just what I'm used to, as that's just the way it's always been."

"We do understand," Aaron said, putting a gentle hand on Spencer's shoulder. "I know if you had more experience in dating then my presence wouldn't be necessary or required."

"But that doesn't mean that we wouldn't want you there," Harper said in mild protest.

"Sure sometimes, just not every time," Aaron agreed. "I'm sure Spencer doesn't expect to be involved or even present every time the two of us make love."

"Of course not," Spencer said calmly. "I'm sure I'll reach the point sometime to where you and I can make love by ourselves without Aaron being present, but as strange as it is for me to say I'm just more comfortable with him there right now, instead of it just being the two of us."

"We do understand," Harper said kissing Spencer tenderly. "You wouldn't have understood before you knew the real reason why Aaron allowed you to make love to me."

"And also why we even allowed full penetration," Aaron said smiling, as he remembered Spencer's astonishment when he had been allowed to actually enter Harper instead of just the foreplay or the heavy petting they had been doing, which was still clear in his mind.

Spencer had assumed at the time that full penetration would be one step too far for Aaron, but Aaron had not only agreed to allow it he had sat on the bed and watched with a little smile playing on his lips the first time.

Spencer remembered not worrying about getting Harper pregnant at the time, because he had been sure that she was on the pill or had one of those implants that had to be changed yearly and after he had discovered that she wasn't doing anything to prevent pregnancy he also now understand why.

"Believe me, when I say I wouldn't have let you anyway near Harper if you also hadn't been her mate, or at least not allowed you to be intimate with her," Aaron said. "Us Immortals are extremely overprotective of what is ours and that definitely includes our mates."

"Besides, I never would've been able to cheat on Aaron if you also hadn't been my mate," Harper added.

"Or vice versa," Aaron said smiling.

"You'll gradually get more comfortable with spending time alone with me and not just in public like we've done a few times, but in privacy as well," Harper said.

Spencer knew she meant when they were necking or having full-blown sex just the two of them while Aaron was elsewhere. He was actually astonished that he was comfortable making love to Harper with anybody else present, especially her first husband, but he hadn't been nervous at all when Harper and Aaron had made their initial offer after knowing each other for several months. They had offered to let him join them when the two of them were making out and they hadn't even minded if he participated and had made that clear. Gradually, Aaron and Harper had worked with him subtly to get him comfortable, to seeing them at least partially naked, especially Harper. While that had made him a little uncomfortable at first, mostly because he desired Harper so much he had gradually started to participate more and more when Harper and Aaron were necking rather heavily. Eventually just a few weeks later Aaron and Harper had requested him to be present in the bedroom while they were making love and he was even allowed to participate if he wanted to. He had been puzzled at first, because they had treated him like he was a part of their intimate relationship and he still hadn't understood that he was. Still, he had gone along with it mostly because he desired Harper so much and wanted to enjoy every moment with her before they got tired of the arrangement, which had never happened, but at least now he understood why.

The three of them shed their night things unselfconsciously and left them on the floor before they headed to the bathroom, so they could all shower together, before they headed to the kitchen where Harper would fix them a big breakfast. Afterwards, they would immediately return upstairs and he and Harper would complete the bond that was between them, something he was more than looking forward to.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

A week later

"It was a lovely ceremony," Diana told Harper and Brooke.

"You helped plan it," Brooke said smiling, "but yes, it was a lovely ceremony and that's partially thanks to you."

"I'm actually surprised dad didn't disrupt it," Spencer said, as he handed Harper a plate of food, which she thanked him for with a smile.

Diana didn't bother to tell her son that Will had changed considerably ever since she had lectured him after the guest had left the night he and Jeremy had announced their engagement.

"He wouldn't do that," Diana said. "He wouldn't dare, not with all these people."

Spencer said nothing, but Diana knew that her disagreed with that statement, but he was too polite to say so.

"Let's just forget that it could have been disrupted and just concentrate on the fact that it was a lovely ceremony," Harper said.

Brooke disappeared with Jeremy at her side and it was clear they were heading out to the dance floor.

"So shall we dance, my lady?" Spencer asked courteously as soon as Harper had finished eating.

"Of course, kind sir," Harper responded in kind smiling brilliantly.

Diana watched them go smiling and was now doubly glad she had taken the time to teach all her children how to dance, though not all of them had enjoyed the lessons including Spencer. Still, Diana knew without her son having to say a word that he was now glad he had learned so well, even if it had been more than 20 years ago, since those lessons.

"Don't they look so perfect together," Aaron said, as he came to stand beside his new mother-in-law.

"That's because they are, both couples do," Diana answered smiling.

"I wanted to thank you for the supporting all of us, but especially supporting us against your husband," Aaron said.

"It was nothing," Diana said. "Will's changed a lot I'll admit and I don't know whether that's due to stress of every day life, his work or just raising a large family."

"Or it could be none of these things and it could be that he just wanted at least his oldest son to follow in his footsteps instead letting him be his own person," Aaron suggested. "It happens all the time as I'm sure you know."

"Yeah, I know, I see it all the time. One parent trying to force their child to go into a certain profession whether or not they have an aptitude or desire for it," Diana sighed. "You would think in this century parents would let a child be themselves, unless they are going down a wrong path that will get them in trouble with the law or even killed. It doesn't matter though, this is a very happy occasion for me and I plan on enjoying every moment of it."

"Human beings are selfish a lot of times and I'm including Immortals in that," Aaron added softly, though it was doubtful anyone would hear him over the loud music and the general noise of numerous conversations.

"Well, of course, you are since they were once mortal beings, even if they're not anymore," said Diana smiling. "All it means is you have the same flaws, emotions and everything that makes up a human being."

"So can I have this dance?" Aaron asked politely smiling.

"Of course, since Will is just sitting over there drinking and ignoring the festivities," Diana said shaking her head. She might finally have gotten through to Will that he had driven a wedge between himself and his children, but that didn't mean he approved of Spencer's marriage to Harper. Will had changed considerably that was true and he might have decided to stop interfering in his son's life, but that didn't mean he didn't have strong opinions, though not ones she necessarily agreed with.

Diana didn't really know where Will had gotten his rather biased opinion about multiple marriages, as his father was definitely not like that, though perhaps, it had come from his mother who had died several years ago. Diana, didn't think so though, because she had been a nice lady and she couldn't see Lydia Reid having anything against group marriages, though the subject never had come up when they had spent time together.

Still, her son and Harper were bound now and she knew that it was going to be permanent no matter what Will tried if he dared. She knew enough about Immortals now to know that the bond between Harper and Spencer was nearly alive and would not be broken by anyone, especially someone outside the marriage who clearly didn't have what was best for the couple in mind. Diana knew that Will had really changed after he had truly realized he had driven a wedge not just between himself and his oldest son, but between himself and all his children. And also between himself and his wife who always supported her children to the hilt, especially when she knew Will was in the wrong, so she was fairly sure that her husband would keep his opinions to himself from now on.

He had been a good man once, Diana sighed internally, as she danced in the arms of the handsome Aaron Hotchner who she knew was totally devoted to both Harper and Spencer, even if it was in different ways.

"You need to go dance with your wife," Diana told Aaron.

"I will, but she and Spencer deserve this time to themselves, as it is their wedding day after all," Aaron explained softly.

"I bet your wedding day to Harper was just as beautiful as this one was," Diana said.

"Yes, it was, I remember it like it was yesterday," Aaron said, smiling softly. "It was such a beautiful, warm day, though not overly hot. There were way too many guests there, just like for this one as both Harper and I would've preferred a small, private ceremony. Unfortunately, I was second in charge at Foster's Bank, the one in New Orleans back when we met, so I had a very prominent position."

"And because of it you had to have a fairly large wedding and reception," Diana said.

"Yeah, we did," Aaron said. "We also had to date for a few months before I proposed just because I was too visible and we didn't want people to think that Harper was some kind of gold digger, as you know that people wouldn't have bothered to check their facts and just started rumors."

"Still, it turned out alright," Diana said.

"More than alright," Aaron agreed smiling. "It was just that it was such a pain at the time to have to go through the motions of dating to figure out if we were right for each other when we already knew we were, but Harper and I got through it. It wasn't even that the two of us didn't need to get to know each other, just that we already knew we were meant to be together and should not have had to go through such a hassle."

"Life is never easy, even if you want it to be," Diana said. "I mean just look at all the trouble I've had with Will and getting him to see that he's driven a wedge between himself and his children, especially himself and his oldest son and also between the two of us. I will always support my children in every way I can, especially when they've done nothing wrong."

"Which makes you a good mother," Aaron said smiling.

"Perhaps," Diana allowed. "I think it's what any parent would do for their child, standing between them and harm, even if that harm isn't physical and comes from someone who should love them no matter what."

"Mental and emotional harm can be just as bad as physical," Aaron said still in that soft tone of voice not wanting to be overheard. "Spencer will carry the emotional scars of his father's attempts to mold him into what he desired for the rest of his life, which will be very long as you know. It doesn't help that he has an eidetic memory, so he will remember every offhand comment about his failings, or every time his father tried to force him to do something just because it's what he did as a child. He will remember every time his father didn't just accept him for who he was and also the fact that his father couldn't accept that he wanted to marry someone that already had a husband, even though it's been legal to marry more than one person for centuries now."

"I know," Diana sighed. "I don't think he really cares about his son's happiness or at least it seems that way. A child's happiness should be all that matters and it's easy to see that Spencer is very happy with Harper and with you, even if you have more of a sibling type relationship. I know that Will has always had strong opinions, but I didn't realize when I married him that he would try to force at least his oldest son into his own mold. It doesn't matter though, because Spencer will be alive long after both Will and I are dead, though I'm sorry for the emotional scars he's going to carry around."

"He doesn't have as many as he could have if he hadn't had your support," Aaron said. "You did a good job of raising both your sons, so I have no doubt that you did an excellent job of raising the rest to your children.

"I just did what any good parent would do and gave all my children plenty of love, affection and discipline," Diana said, "though Spencer at least was well-behaved, so it wasn't necessary often. I think he was so well-behaved so he would remain mostly beneath his father's notice actually."

"Well, you knew how smart your son was from the time he was a small child," Aaron said.

"I think it's time you go dance with your wife as my son looks about ready to get off his feet for a few minutes," Diana said. "To tell you the truth I need to get off my feet myself as I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Of course," Aaron said solicitously, as he escorted Diana to one of the tables that had been set up for the guests as soon as the song ended. "Can I get you anything to drink or to eat before I go dance with Harper?"

"I'm fine," Diana promised. "I'll get myself something a little later. I bet you can't wait till this reception is over so the five of you can disappear on your honeymoons."

"I'm looking forward to it, although I know Spencer is looking forward to it even more than I am," Aaron said smiling. "Harper and I have been together for centuries so while I'm looking forward to this honeymoon it's Spencer who's really eager to be gone and not just because he's never been to the moon before."

"It took my son a long time to find the right woman and I'm so glad he finally did, even if I know Will doesn't agree," Diana said. "I know all three of you will be happy for many centuries and I know that Jeremy and Brooke will be as well. I have rarely seen so many people so well suited to each other."

"Ilithyia arranged it that way because she knew that life would be incredibly dull and boring without somebody to truly share it with," Aaron said and Diana nodded. "I'm not claiming that us Immortals don't get bored sometimes, because that's impossible, but we certainly don't fall into depression with a mate by our sides. Still, we do have times of boredom, even if they tend to be fairly brief so long as we have found our mate or mates as the case might be."

"Why don't you go relieve my son. Actually, Harper might be ready to get off the dance floor for awhile, because while heels are fashionable they aren't very comfortable to stand on for hours," Diana suggested.

Aaron nodded knowing a dismissal when he heard one and so he headed over to where Harper and Spencer were still dancing and took over smoothly once they had exchanged a few words. Spencer immediately headed over to where his mother was sitting and sat down beside her.

The two of them immediately begun discussing literature, which was something they had done often when Spencer had been growing up and both enjoyed themselves immensely. Both were sure they would have many more discussions over the years before Diana finally passed away several decades from now.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	28. Chapter 28

Part 28

William Reid sat at one of the tables that had been arranged in an area off the the side of the dance floor and observed the guests. He sighed suddenly feeling everyone of his years. The wedding had been lovely, he could admit that, but it didn't matter whether or not he approved of either of his sons marriages, as both of them were over thirty. He really liked Brooke and Jeremy as husband and wife so he approved there, but as for Spencer and Harper...

If Harper Hotchner had not already been married then he would approve of the match, but she was and he had made it more than clear that he didn't approve of multiple relationships, not that it mattered. It had been made very clear to him that he had no right to control anybody's life, except his own, as this wasn't back centuries ago when the head of the family could control whatever their offspring did, but especially their daughters. Men had more freedom, so long as they didn't care if they were cut off from the parental teat and therefore, the family coffers by their fathers. Diana had finally made him realize though, that he had driven a wedge between himself and Spencer and the chasm it had created would very likely never be repaired.

He should have realized years ago that when Spencer was a boy that any child would go their own way and making snide little comments or showing clear disapproval was not the way to get a child to obey, especially not one as intelligent as his oldest son. He should've taken a much different tack and shown his son what a lawyer did, answered his questions, instead of brushing them aside as unimportant. Spencer had been interested initially, William now realized, though it took an intense search of his own memories to realize that. After the way he had brushed aside his questions though and basically ignored his childish curiosity the boy had changed his mind quickly.

If only he had taken the time to answer his son's questions Spencer might have decided to become a lawyer, instead of defying family tradition, but he had put too much pressure on him to obey and Spencer being his son had gotten stubborn about it and decided against becoming a lawyer. He had stuck to his guns despite all family pressure to the contrary. Reids were known for their stubbornness unfortunately.

Instead of being proud of his son for standing up to him he had done his best to make Spencer hate him, though he hadn't realized it at the time that's what he had done. At the very least Spencer strongly disliked him and he had no idea how to change that or even if he could. William remembered nearly threatening not to pay for Spencer's college education if he didn't become an attorney and Diana had stopped him cold and told him that the boy was intelligent enough to look for scholarships and she would pay for his education herself if she had too.

He still hadn't understood the damage he had done to his relationship with all his children not just his oldest son at the time, but now he did, as he barely saw all any of them except for Whitney. However, Will now realized that was more for the sake of his grandchildren then Whitney herself, something he hadn't realized until recently, because his daughter had kept her opinion of his attitude towards Spencer to herself. Even if Whitney had said anything to him he wouldn't have listened and he knew it.

Will knew that he could have threatened to disown Spencer from the Reid name if he didn't distance himself from Harper and Aaron Hotchner and if he also knew if he had done so Diana would immediately start divorce proceedings. He also knew that his father would reverse his son's status as soon as he learned of it and take him to task for being an idiot, for he was technically, head of the family until he died and therefore, was the real power. It wouldn't matter anyway because Will was sure that Spencer would gladly take on the Hotchner name and would continue to maintain contact with anybody in his family except himself just to defy the order, so really what good would it have done?

His relationship was rather rocky with his wife and Will could now admit to himself that it was mostly his fault. A mother was supposed to protect her children from anything bad happening to them and that included from her husband. Oh, he had never laid a hand on any of his children or his wife, but that didn't mean that he hadn't left plenty of scars mentally and emotionally at least. He had used that famous Reid stubbornness in the wrong way to try to force his children into a mold he found pleasing, even if that was mostly Spencer. His oldest son hadn't been turning out like he had wanted or expected and that was clear by the time the boy was three or four years old. He had tried to force Spencer into doing more the activities he had done as a child, to play baseball or just go outside and had not been pleased when Spencer had defied him even at that young age. He remembered Diana telling him that he should be proud of his son for liking to learn and he hadn't said anything at the time against it, but had not agreed with his wife's statement. He had not appreciated that way Spencer had absorbed information, even at that young age and remembered everything.

William mentally winced as he remembered his son's eidetic memory, because he knew Spencer would never be able to forget every time he had said something disparaging about him or every time he tried to force his son into being what he wanted. Spencer might be the quiet one of the Reid family, but he had his own way of defying anything he disagreed with. Well, there was no point in dwelling on his numerous failings when it came to his family not just Spencer, though he had taken the brunt of it.

He would just have to accept that his son now had a wife that already had a husband and he should because his father certainly didn't have a problem with it and as he was head of the family he had a right to say how it would be.

He had wrecked his relationship with his family all due to his own stubbornness, pride and being to busy to see he was doing so. This wasn't the 14th or 15th or even the 16th century after all where most children followed in their father's footsteps, the boys anyway, while the women were often married off against their wills, but it was obey orders back then or risk being thrown out with only the clothes on your back and disowned.

"Well, you seem rather melancholy for such a happy occasion," came a voice that Will vaguely recognized, as he had been introduced briefly. This was David Rossi the father of Harper and Brooke and Will had met his three wives two beautiful blondes and a gorgeous brunette. Will couldn't understand how anybody could marry more than once and form a happy marriage, but he had been told that David Rossi and three wives had been together for a very long time, more than 50 years though none of them looked like they could possibly be past 40. Since Will know there were numerous ways to make someone look younger than they actually were he didn't bother to speculate how they could maintain looking the way they did.

Will also now knew that there was no way that this David Rossi would have let his son starve considering his daughter loved him and the daughter had plenty of money of her own and that wasn't even counting that his son did run a successful business.

Will had done a background check on Harper and Aaron Hotchner in a desperate attempt to stop his son from associating with them because he could see that his son was falling in love with Harper and that his feelings were returned, but their records were as clean as a whistle with only a few minor traffic violations all paid up. Will doubted now if he had found something that it would have stopped Spencer from doing what he wished since his son was just as stubborn as he ever had been and you couldn't exactly turn off your feelings for someone and even if you could that would hardly be healthy. It would've had to be some kind of capital crime like murder to get Spencer away from them and Will hadn't actually wished for that.

According to their background checks they were upstanding citizens with quite a bit of money of their own.

Will merely grunted not replying and sipping the drink he was holding though the ice had long since melted in the heat.

"You look like a man whose deeply troubled," Dave suggested quietly. "Here you are sitting by yourself when you should be out there dancing with your wife reveling in the fact that two of your sons have found happiness and have just gotten married to women they love."

Will said nothing and just kept drinking his now warm drink doing his best to ignore David Rossi, but the one thing William Reid wasn't aware of was that the other man knew how not to be ignored when he didn't want to be.

"It might help to talk to someone," Dave suggested. "It can't be all that bad."

"You think I'm going to tell the father of my sons brides all my troubles?" William asked finally his tone rude.

"You don't have to," Dave acknowledged calmly, ignoring the rude tone, "but it would probably help to get them off your chest. At the rate you're going you're going give yourself an ulcer at the very least."

"And what do you know about it?" Will almost snapped.

"I know that keeping stuff bottled up doesn't do your body any good," Dave said calmly, not responding to the snapping tone. "You could have a heart attack or stroke just because you don't release your emotions. You know if you would only acknowledge it, in this way your oldest son is just like you, as he keeps stuff bottled up, as he's afraid to show emotion in case you consider him weak or something."

Will winced at that wishing that was one trait Spencer had not inherited from him, but he had taught his son to well just by ignoring his needs. He had always known that children tended to emulate their parents so yes, that was a trait Spencer had very likely picked up from him.

"Luckily, both Harper and Aaron were stubborn enough to help your son overcome certain traits learned in childhood, even though at this point they'd be pretty deeply ingrained. He's already opened up so much, from what I understand, from the man that they originally met."

"I hadn't noticed," Will said slowly.

"Spencer knows he is loved unconditionally despite or perhaps, because of his faults and that is enough to make him open up to the two people he trusts absolutely. Trust hasn't been easy for him from what I understand from my daughter, but at least he made the effort and has succeeded for the most part," Dave explained.

Will winced visibly again knowing that he was the main reason Spencer was so cautious around people, although he wasn't the only one he was sure to cause his son not to trust people easily. His son had learned well not to trust people until he knew them intimately and while that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it stopped people from taking advantage of him there were also some disadvantages.

Dave mentally shook his head. His children might be all be grown up now, but that didn't mean that he didn't stay in contact with them as much as he could and offer them advice when they asked. He was still very in tune with all of his children, even if he didn't hear from some of them very often. Of course, it was easier to remain in contact nowadays, then it had been when he and Emily had been born, but still, he had tried to remain in contact.

"You must think I'm a lousy excuse for a father at least," Will finally said after a long silence.

"I didn't say that," Dave said in mild protest. "I think all of us learn at different speeds and that when you got married you weren't really ready to be a father. To accept that your child might not turn out not like you wanted. If there's one thing I've learned by raising twins is that they grow at their own speed mentally and emotionally and often in ways you don't expect. All we can really do is guide them, but you should never try to force a child into being what you want them to be. I realize however, that I had a different upbringing then you did, but that's what I was taught when I was a young man. I always had around me several good examples, as my parents are still very much in love as they were when I was a child and so are my grandparents and my great-grandparents. They never tried to force me to go into the same profession that they themselves had, as all they wanted me to do was find a good woman to marry have a family and a career that I would be happy in. I have done so, though I am long since retired."

What Dave told William Reid was the complete truth he had just edited it appropriately, as he couldn't exactly explain that his parents and grandparents were much older than average due to being Immortal, though they might decide to pass on one day being bored with life in general, which happened to Immortals sometimes.

He had also spoken the truth when it came to his parents not trying to force him into particular career and would've been happy if he had never worked, because it wasn't like he was going to starve due to the large trust fund they had set up for him. They had taught him to be careful with his money until he made some good investments as what they had set aside for each of their children wouldn't last forever. His writing career had brought in billions, especially considering that he had been several different writers over the last thousand years, so he was in no danger of going broke.

Besides, all three of his mates had fortunes of their own.

"And what did they have to say when you married three instead of one?" William asked curiously.

"They truly didn't care one way or the other," Dave shrugged. "So long as I was happy and my wife was okay with it and also the lady in question was agreeable they didn't see any harm in it. In fact, they were very happy that I'd found so many beautiful ladies to love and that loved me in return. Love is what makes life worth living, because humans aren't happy just working for a living as they need someone to love and to come home to, to be more then simply content.

"They need companionship, someone who has at least some of the same goals, the same values, the same ethics and morals. I was very lucky when I met Emily, then a few years later Jennifer and finally Penelope. I've been very happy and content since then and so have they, because I've made sure of it.

"I do as much for them as they do for me and we never let the romance fade from our marriage. I always remember our separate anniversaries, their separate birthdays and they always remember mine, though I have to admit that they have an easier time of it, because they only have to remember one birthday and anniversary, instead of three. We never let life in general make us forget our common ground, which happens far too much.

"We still go out on dates and we take plenty of trips just to get away for a week or two. It's not like we have any children to look after anymore as Harper and Brooke have been grown up for a long time, so we're pretty much free to do whatever we want, though we will always be available to give our daughters advice if they ask for it. That of course includes, Spencer and Aaron though Aaron has never come to me for advice, but then he doesn't have to. He knows though, that any of us are available if it ever becomes necessary. We support our children in anyway we can and we always let them know that they are loved. Well, you can see the result for yourself."

Dave gestured out on the dance floor, where Harper and Spencer as well as Brooke and Jeremy had resumed dancing after taking a lengthy break. Will's eyes went to Aaron Hotchner wondering what he truly thought of his wife getting married again and was surprised to see the younger man smiling slightly, as he watched Harper and Spencer dance together. Apparently, Aaron approved, but then he would have to since he would have to sign a statement that said he approved of the marriage between his wife and Spencer. The opposite would've been true if Aaron met another woman and they agreed to add her to their relationship and who knows it might happen, William mused. After all, technically, there was no limit of people you could marry though most stuck to just three partners or less.

Harper and Brooke were well raised young ladies, William admitted to himself silently. They were well spoken, well educated and polite, even to people they disliked. Plus, as a bonus they couldn't be called gold diggers because they had plenty of money of their own and they clearly adored his sons.

William made a decision, which he felt was the right one and that was he would stay away from both of families as much as possible, except when he absolutely had to be present. He would leave them alone to live their lives the way they chose like Diana had been trying to get him to do for years, particularly his oldest son. Of course, he would love any grandchildren unconditionally, unlike he had done with his own children. And that's only if Spencer let him anywhere near them, as it was a distinct possibility that his son would forbid him from ever seeing them considering how he had treated Spencer as a child. He didn't see Spencer being that vindictive, but still, it was a possibility he was going to have to accept just in case it happened and not protest too much. He was actually surprised that Spencer hadn't disowned him, but perhaps, he hadn't wanted to hurt his mother, since the two of them were very close, which was something he had resented a lot over the years, but now he realized that he had brought it on himself.

William well knew that Diana was the reason that Spencer had turned out as well as he had, though of course, he had his hangups, but everybody did, though Spencer probably had more than most due mostly to him he knew.

"From what little I have seen of them they seem polite and well spoken," William said.

"They were raised that way I assure you, though Harper has quite a mouth on her when she's annoyed or angry, but then I didn't raise my daughters to be pushovers, but to standup for themselves. I'm afraid they picked up the coarse language from Emily as she has quite a mouth on her to, but to be fair a lot of kids in high school or even elementary school have very foul mouths. We sent our girls to a nice private school, but that doesn't mean that some of the children don't still swear sometimes and children tend to mimic their peers."

William recalled back to years ago when Diana had argued about sending Spencer to a private school for children with out of the ordinary intelligence and he had been determined that Spencer was going to go to public school just like he had and it hadn't been about the money, since those kind of institutions cost.

He had done his oldest son a great disservice by being stubborn about the wrong things, which was something he had realized years too late. His son might have made friends of his own sort that were geniuses just like Spencer was. Spencer had never brought friends home, William now realized, but that was probably because he didn't have any close friends. He had always known that more ordinary children tended to pick on those that were more intelligent and showed it. At the time he had insisted that Spencer had to go to the same high school he attended he hadn't thought of that. It had never occurred to him that he was not helping his son's mental or emotional maturity by insisting on placing him in a public high school where he would outperform the other children easily. Spencer had too much pride to dumb himself down just so he had a easier time in school, which the other children would have seen as showing off. Spencer had really been more mature then most of the other children in school and his life experiences of being at least verbally bullied was part of the reason why, though he also shared some of the blame.

Spencer had known better than to bring his troubles to him, as he knew himself well enough to know that he just would've brushed Spencer's concerns aside and told him to handle it. He supposed any influence he had on his oldest son's life could be considered a negative example.

"I should've done the same I now realize," William said looking guilty. "I'm the one that insisted Spencer had to go to the same high school I attended, but I didn't realize I was doing my son so much harm mentally and emotionally at least."

"I think he turned out okay, as I've met him several times and was very impressed with the depths of his knowledge," Dave said. "Yes, there were likely plenty of things you could've done to help nurture his intelligent mind, but that's water under the bridge as the saying goes, so there's no point of dwelling on it. You can still at least try to make things up with Spencer, though how you do that I'll leave to you."

William said nothing about how he had intended to avoid both his sons and their families as much as possible, leaving them to live their lives the way they wanted, but particularly Spencer. It was for the best really, because he was sure Spencer would never be able to forgive him and even if he could there was no guarantees he wouldn't do something else to hurt his son. He already didn't see much of any of his children really, though he hadn't realized that until fairly recently or he had chosen to believe that they were just too busy to come for dinner.

"Now, while this has been nice, I think, I'm going to go dance with Harper and then Brooke as I know I won't see them for the next few weeks," Dave said. He rose to his feet and headed to do just that.

William watched him go and knew that David Rossi whether he had meant to or not had given him a lot to think about.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Can I have this dance?" William asked his wife who was sipping a drink over at one of the tables.

"So you have finally decided to participate?" Diana asked a little sarcastically. "Finally stopped feeling sorry for yourself, just because nobody listened to you? I thought I asked you to at least appear happy that two of your sons have found someone to love and yet you sit over at one of the tables and brood instead, though at least you didn't object when the priest asked."

"Why don't we dance," William suggested.

"I suppose," Diana said suddenly feeling exhausted. She knew that the changes Will was going through were going to take time, but the least he could've done was get up and participate in the reception, danced with both Brooke and Harper at least once, as it would've been the proper thing to do. The man who had built his life around presenting the proper appearance in public sure had failed when it came to his sons nuptials. Besides, it had been months since he had come to the realization that he had truly driven a wedge between himself and his family and that meant he'd had plenty of time to at least learn to pretend to be happy for his sons marriage, Spencer's in particular.

Still, he was trying and Diana had to give him massive points for that.

"So what made you finally decide to participate in your sons wedding reception?" Diana asked, as the two of them took a spin on the dance floor.

"Oh David Rossi came over to my table and subtly gave me a lecture, though at the time I didn't realize that's what it was, because as I said he was very subtle about it. He told me all about how he had allowed his daughters to choose what they wanted to do with their lives and that he had never tried to mold them into what he wanted. He said how he learned to raise his family from his parents and grandparents example. He might not have meant it as a lecture actually, perhaps, that's just the way I took it once I'd had a few minutes to think. He subtly pointed out that I should be proud of my son for all he's accomplished and that he came out better than anyone had a right to expect. He apparently likes Spencer very much, respects his keen mind and even if he didn't approve I suspect that he wouldn't interfere with his daughter's choice, as he apparently believes in letting his children make their own decisions, even if those choices turn out to be mistakes."

"Now that's something I approve of," Diana said nodding. "You can't learn anything if you don't make mistakes as that's the way that we grow and mature. I met some people that are so arrogant that you just want to slap them and either they apparently never made a mistake and learned from it or they just never learned from their mistakes at all because their parents just took care of of any consequences without punishing them so they learned their lesson. When we are learning and growing we expect our parents to help us with any mistakes we make depending on the severity, though usually whatever mistakes we make are pretty minor and easily corrected. However, in this case Spencer didn't make a mistake as I believe he chose well, so don't expect him to get divorced, because I don't see that happening."

Actually, Diana knew it wouldn't happen, but she couldn't tell Will why she was so certain that Spencer's marriage to Harper was going to last or Jeremy's to Brooke for that matter. All that mattered was that her sons were happy and it didn't matter that both of them were going to live basically forever, barring serious, life threatening injuries. From what she understood an Immortal had a better chance of surviving something like that, depending on the injury, where it was located and whether they got medical attention in time, so it wasn't a sure thing.

"That's not what I was thinking," William protested.

Diana simply stared at him intently and finally nodded believing him despite herself.

"Alright, maybe I judged you unfairly, but considering the interference in Spencer's life you can't exactly blame me," Diana said quietly.

"No, I can't blame you," William admitted with a sigh. "I suppose I was obsessed with having Spencer be exactly like I was as a child and because he wasn't I drove a wedge between us. I was determined to have him follow in my footsteps and when he showed no interest in doing so I tried to force him as you know."

"You should have rid yourself of any preconceived notions of what your children would turn out to be like before they were born," Diana told him in a severe tone. "It's a mistake that many parents make, which only makes their child miserable and most of the time the parent as well. Spencer isn't suited to be a lawyer as he just doesn't have those types of instincts. Oh, he's intelligent enough certainly, probably more intelligent than any three other people put together, but still he's not one to talk in front of a lot people like in a courtroom. He would've made a fine lawyer if he was at all interested but he's not. I can't believe that you didn't see that Spencer would've been miserable in that profession if he had actually done what you wanted and gotten his degree. I have no doubt that even if he had got his degree to become an attorney that he would have stayed in that profession for very long. We all have to do what makes us happy Will, and being a lawyer like you wanted was not something that Spencer ever considered being for himself, except perhaps when he was a real small boy."

"He was interested originally, but I brushed aside his questions as unimportant, which was my mistake, as it didn't take Spencer long to figure out that he couldn't depend on me at all," William sighed. "My mistake was not answering his questions as he was more than intelligent enough to understand, even at such a young age. All I had to do was spend some time with him, answer his questions and yet I was too busy building my career to do so. I know now that's no excuse, but at the time it seemed like there weren't enough hours in the day."

"Perhaps, we should've waited a few more years to have children, but considering how many we had it's just as well that we started as soon as we came back from our honeymoon," Diana said.

The two talked quietly as they left the dance floor to sit at one of the tables, to continue their private conversation and also to rest their aching feet. It was getting late so soon the two newly wedded couples would leave the cleanup to everyone else and disappear to their separate destinations for the night before their flights left tomorrow.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	29. Chapter 29

Part 29

"Well, I think it's time for the three of us to go to bed," Harper suggested silkily.

Spencer, Harper and Aaron were standing in the honeymoon suite at one of the best hotels in the city, because even though they could've just gone home all of them felt like they deserved to have breakfast in bed without Harper having to prepare it, since she was the main cook of the family. Harper and Spencer had already bonded the very next morning after Spencer had been turned Immortal, but that didn't mean that they weren't going to enjoy what was technically, their wedding night, even if Aaron was there as well.

"I can make myself scarce if you want, since this is technically, your wedding night," Aaron said. "You're the ones that got married earlier, not me."

"I want you here," Spencer said. "Yes, I know that technically, it's Harper and I that are newlyweds, but still you're married to her too. You're certainly the best friend I've ever had so I definitely don't mind you being present."

"Alright then," Aaron agreed once he saw Harper nod. "I definitely don't mind being present if that's what you want, but I'm also capable of getting another hotel room for tonight and I can always meet you at the shuttleport."

"No, I think all three of us deserve to enjoy this night before we share breakfast in bed in the morning before we get ready for our flight in the early afternoon," Harper said. "We made afternoon flight reservations on purpose so that we wouldn't have to rush around tomorrow. We can share a leisurely breakfast and an early lunch before we have to catch our flight. We all know that shuttle food even in first class isn't exactly gourmet, nor is it very filling."

"We both agree with that," Spencer said looking at Aaron. "I've flown enough in first class ever since my business took off to know that you're right. You can order extra food, but it also cost much more."

"We don't mind that," Aaron said.

"Even if it is price gouging," Harper said contemptuously. "Our flight isn't long enough to worry about going hungry anyway, just an hour or so depending on the position of the moon."

"I say we drop this discussion and get started, as I've been looking forward to all wedding night for sometime. Yes, yes, I know we've been having sex for months now, but still..." Spencer said.

"A couple's wedding night is always special, even if the couple didn't wait until after the wedding to make love," Harper said in understanding.

"Like there's anyway you would have abstained from having sex with Spencer for the last year and a half," Aaron snorted. "At least you didn't have to be as careful as us males have to be because we can turn someone Immortal if we aren't careful."

"No, I wouldn't have," Harper grinned, as she begun to remove her clothes that she had changed into in the bathroom. "I didn't even have to wait until he knew our secret because I couldn't turn him Immortal."

"Something I'm grateful for," Spencer smiled. "I've certainly had much more sex with you than I ever did before we met."

"Believe me, we'll be indulging in a lot out of it," Harper grinned. "You might be Immortal now but our bond is still really new. When I first met Aaron, the two of us spent as much time in bed as humanly possible and it didn't seem like nearly enough, mostly because he was gone for his job with Foster's Bank for a great part of the day, except on weekends."

"Yeah, I had trouble concentrating for months," Aaron remembered fondly. "It was such an ordeal at the time. Still, I couldn't just leave my position as that would have been suspicious."

"Which was the last thing you needed," Spencer said and the other two nodded.

"No, I was assistant bank manager and it would have been suspicious if I retired or just quit for no good reason," Aaron agreed. "If you want to know more then I'll be happy to tell you, but later."

Spencer nodded in complete agreement and he began to get undressed rapidly with Aaron doing the same until both of them will completely nude.

"Come along, boys, that nice big bed needs christening," Harper said taking both their hands and leading them to the heart-shaped kingsized bed that was on one side of the room.

"You don't have to drag us honey, I promise we're quite eager," Aaron said, as he scooped up Harper in his arms and tossed her gently onto the middle of the bed. "You go first," Aaron added looking at Spencer. "This is your wedding night after all. Don't worry I'll join in I promise, but you deserve to be first."

Spencer nodded gratefully and immediately pounced on the love of his life. He had never believed he'd get married and if he did that she would be as beautiful as Harper and it just wasn't her looks either but her kind, generous spirit that attracted him. Her beauty didn't hurt either.

Aaron watched with a smile on his lips, as Spencer immediately started to nip gently along Harper's skin and saw how Harper responded to Spencer's ministrations. Of course, the two of them had been having sex for a year and half with his full approval, though Aaron knew that Spencer hadn't understood why he allowed it until he had learned about Immortals.

It wasn't long until Harper was begging for more and Spencer who was working on one of her nipples looked at Aaron briefly and Aaron knew that meant that he was welcome to join in. Aaron finally climbed onto the free side of the bed, tired of just watching since his cock was standing stiff and proud and started to treat Harper's other breast to licks and nips as well. Harper was groaning and whimpering and making little keening sounds of pleasure seeming to not have enough breath to form actual words, which meant to the two men that they were doing their job properly.

It was Spencer who entered Harper first, because after all technically, this was his and Harper's wedding night.

While Spencer was releasing his seed into Harper, Aaron continued to nip along her skin in various oversensitive spots that were already tingling pleasantly, so that when she came her climax was much stronger than it would have been normally with only one of her mates making love to her.

Having such a strong climax was something that Harper had gotten used to ever since she had found both her mates and she certainly hoped that both of them continued to make love at the same time for many centuries to come. Spencer had gotten quite proficient at drawing out her climax by himself, but when Aaron joined in it was all over much sooner, simply because her skin, her very being was overloaded by extremely pleasant sensations that there was no possible way to draw out her climax.

She would never get enough of having both her mates making love to her with tenderness and care and they had even entered her at the same time front and back. It had been strange at first to have two men's cocks in her body at the same time and she had definitely felt overfull, but she had learned to love having both her mates cock's inside her quickly, so it was something they'd repeated often over the last few months.

"Ready for another round?" Aaron asked in a tone filled with amusement.

"Or do you want to get some sleep?" Spencer asked smiling down at Harper so tenderly that she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Oh, no, I can sleep later," Harper said. "This is all of ours wedding night, alright only Spencer's and mine technically, but I don't care what's technically correct as Aaron is just as much a part of this as Spencer and I are."

"Who cares what's technically correct," Spencer agreed, as he ran a tender hand reverently over Harper's soft, smooth skin, causing her to purr softly at the sensations Spencer gentle touch was causing.

"No, it doesn't matter that you and I have been married for several centuries already," Aaron said just as softly, as he started to kiss along Harper's neck, moving swiftly down to her shoulder, then to her breasts that he explored with his lips, though he was very familiar with the territory.

"Finish what you started Aaron," Harper begged nearly breathlessly.

"I was planning to," Aaron answered with a grin in his voice, as he continued his exploration. "I never start something without finishing it and you ought to know this."

Spencer watched as Aaron made love to Harper slowly and with tenderness. He smiled softly, as this was something he had seen many times before over the last year and a half and he had often wondered in the back of his mind how they could possibly want to add another partner to their relationship considering that it was obvious they were deeply in love. He had his answer to that question now and knew that he was truly loved and appreciated by Harper and Aaron and that was all that mattered to him. Being so completely loved by Harper alone had made him feel as if he had finally found his place in the world, but having the respect of one of the best men he had ever known just added icing. He was so completely happy for the first time in his life that he would do nothing to risk that happiness. He already knew that he was so completely in love with Harper that cheating would never even enter his mind, even if it was possible considering the bond.

No, he and Harper would have many centuries to explore their love for one another and he didn't mind Aaron being there at all just as he knew that the other man didn't mind his presence or his obvious adoration of Harper. Since he knew Aaron felt the same it was no wonder the other man didn't mind his deep love for the women between her two men.

This tender lovemaking was in obvious contrast to the fact that they all enjoyed some of the more dangerous BDSM games Spencer knew, but then everybody had more than one side to their personalities. He had enjoyed some of the less dangerous BDSM games for years, though he had always been the submissive never the dominate. Now though, he didn't mind using some of the more dangerous BDSM techniques because he trusted both Aaron and Harper completely and it helped that whatever cuts there were healed nearly immediately once the session was over. Some even healed during the session itself. Spencer well knew that his dad would call him crazy and probably want to commit him if he ever learned of his secret desire for pain, but since pain released certain chemicals that just made their lovemaking even better, Spencer wasn't about to stop and he knew Aaron and Harper agreed. What the three of them did in the privacy of their own home was their business and no one else's. Also pain could release the tension in the body so that all three of them were much more relaxed after a particularly heavy session as their tension just seemed to drain away. Using the BDSM techniques helped him keep his temper around his father, not that he saw much of him, but still it was a point for consideration.

He doubted that his mother would approve either, but she would allow that it was his life, which is why he never intended to reveal this particular aspect of their relationship, even if they were close.

At this time though, no pain was required or even wanted, as they didn't have to worry about anything at all for the next month. Spencer didn't have to worry about his father or even bother with going into work. Since he owned his own business technically, he didn't need to work at all, but he also enjoyed it, so he didn't mind, though he would certainly be cutting back on his hours considerably.

Spencer watched closely as Harper went into another strong climax, though it wasn't as strong as previously since he was only laying on his side of the bed watching instead of participating.

"I think it's my turn," Harper said smiling at Spencer so tenderly that he felt a lump in his throat. Harper took Spencer's engorged cock into her mouth and started sucking on it slowly at first then more rapidly, moving her mouth up and down until she was deep throating him with no problem at all.

Spencer groaned at this attention as there were numerous nerves in the cock alone, many more in such a small area then in the rest of the body. His cock had already been fairly engorged just from watching Aaron make love to Harper and so he came relatively quickly, as he was unable to hold back his climax for any length of time. This was not the first time that Harper had given him a blowjob and it wouldn't be the last either Spencer knew. She seemed to enjoy swallowing his seed just, as she did Aaron's, something he was grateful for.

Since Aaron's cock was still encased in Harper's body there was no need for her to swallow his seed, although she would've done so gladly.

"Another round?" Harper asked hopefully.

"Of course, if you're not too tired," Spencer answered.

"Oh, no, I told you I can sleep later, although I'm sure we'll all be taking at least a couple of short naps in between sessions but right now I'm fine."

"Well then, I think it's Spencer's turn again, since I just had mine," Aaron said smiling down at his mate.

"Yes it is," Spencer agreed. "After this though, I think we need to sleep for at least an hour or so, since we'll likely not sleep on the shuttle as it's a short trip."

"Probably a good idea," Harper conceded. "Still, Aaron and I have gone without sleep for two full days before and I'm sure we will do it again at some point."

"I would say that's a definite yes," Aaron said smiling.

All three of them made love until finally they all climaxed at basically the same time and afterwards they all lay down tangled together falling asleep easily.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"I believe it's time that we talk to Graciela about having a child," Harper told both her mates.

It was nearly 3 years later and what a happy three years it had been. The three of them were so close that people often commented on it. "We've been married nearly 3 years now and I know that Spencer's mom at least wants us to give her some grandchildren."

"Yes, I remember how she reacted when she found out it was possible," Spencer said smiling.

"Really, my family wants grandchildren to, but they're being patient and don't keep bringing it up every time we visit," Harper said.

"You learn patience when you are as old as they are or that I am for that matter," Aaron said. "Of course, some people have monumental patience whether or not they have a lot of years, but others have to learn that skill. By the way, I agree about having children, as I'm sure that Spencer's father will start to get impatient for some grandchildren sometime in the next couple of years, so we might as well head off any kind of confrontation at the pass."

"Dad's been different ever since we got married," Spencer said looking pensive. "I see even less of him now than I did before. It's as if he's finally decided to let me live my life the way I want to."

"Well, your mom did threaten to divorce him so maybe that finally got him to back off," Harper suggested.

"Or maybe he finally realized that he can't control you," Aaron suggested.

"That's never stopped him before. It's always been like hitting my head against a brick wall," said Spencer, "but maybe you're right."

"It doesn't matter I'm ready to have a child by each of you, so I think we should have at least two of my eggs implanted," Harper said.

"I think this time that you should only be Spencer's semen you use," Aaron told Harper. "This way his mother will get at least two grandchildren and his father will have no right to complain."

"My mother would accept any child related to you instead of me with open arms," Spencer told Aaron. "Still, we can do it that way this time and then next time we can do one of each or even have both of them be yours Aaron. It's not like my family won't expect any of the children Harper has not to be yours. In fact, I would say that they'd be surprised if at least one of the children we have isn't."

"Graciela did say it didn't pay to be greedy and suggested we go through the IVF process only three times, but since there is two of you I don't see why we can't use the process more than that, as most Immortals only have one mate and then they likely only have three children, unless they decide to implant two embryos every time," Harper suggested.

"Which might not occur to them that they can do and I doubt any Immortal doctor is going to suggest it," Aaron said. "Or if they do some Immortals won't want to carry more than one at a time."

"Or one of them won't turn into a fetus," Harper said.

"One embryo can also split once it's in the womb or even in the petri dish, which happens a lot with IVF," Spencer said.

"Well, yes, that's true," Aaron agreed.

"What other Immortals do isn't our problem and I say that we have Graciela plant at least two embryos," Harper said. "If that embryo happens to split in the petri dish then we'll still have her implant them all."

"Yes I remember you telling Graciela that back when we were discussing having children ahead of the usual schedule," Spencer said.

"I was rather surprised when Graciela said it was possible to use IVF, even if it's only under very specific circumstances," Harper said.

"So long as it's only triplets possibly quadruplets, as both you and your sister have the figures for carrying that many, it more than that it would be a good idea to freeze them," Spencer said.

"Unless, of course, it happens after they have already implanted," Aaron said.

"Well, yes," Spencer agreed. "The fact that twins run in both sides of our family makes it more likely that we'll have at least twins. I just want us to be prepared for the possibility of the embryo splitting to create fraternal triplets, if we really do have twins implanted into Harper's womb."

"I'm going to have at least two embryos implanted, because I've always had twins thanks to Ilithyia generosity and I see no reason to change that now," Harper said, "though I admit it would probably be easier to carry only one."

"No, there's no reason, especially since Graciela is always here to help you deliver just in case you need a C-section," Aaron said calmly.

"Which will be more than likely necessary if she really does have triplets at least," Spencer said.

"Graciela can handle it," Harper said. "She'll probably insist on the C-section actually if I really do end up carrying triplets."

"Well, if she does, then she does," Aaron said. "I for one have no doubt of her skill as she's been practicing for many centuries now."

"I'll contact Graciela right away," Harper said. "It is not like this is going to be unexpected, since we did mention this possibility when we talked to her 3 years ago."

"No, she'll actually probably be expecting us to contact her any day, as she always struck me as a very intelligent lady," Spencer said.

"And we did mention trying IVF within five years," Aaron said remembering the conversation they'd had with Graciela DeWitt in the Rossis very comfortable living room. He respected the beautiful physician a great deal. She was honest to the bone for one thing, which he appreciated and had helped give birth to everyone of their twins for another. She was fast and efficient and usually brought one of her children or grandchildren along, one who had also gone into the medical profession.

"She will probably expect us to come to her clinic whenever she has set up at this time so that she can do the operation there," Harper said. "She might even want us to go there for the birth, and that way she doesn't have to bring any sort of equipment to our house here."

"Maybe," Aaron conceded. "If it's triplets I would say that's a very strong possibility at least."

"You know mom's going want to be there for the birth if possible," Spencer mentioned. "Dad may want to be there to, so something is going to have to be arranged here in Las Vegas if it all possible."

"I hadn't thought of that, but Spencer's right," Harper said, "At the very least Diana is going to want to be present in the waiting room and I wouldn't be surprised if all his siblings show up at some point including my sister."

"Yes, but your sister and my brother are in on the secret since they're Immortal themselves," said Spencer, "So having them present and also my mother won't be a problem, but as for everyone else, except Aaron's and Harper's families..."

"We'll work it out, as they have a right to be there if they want to," Aaron said. "I wonder if it's possible to set up a temporary clinic right here in Las Vegas. I know it will be a lot of work and be very expensive, but we can help out there since it was our idea."

"I think it's possible," Harper said. "Right now, Graciela is basically retired, except when she's called on by other Immortals, which doesn't happen often. I don't see why she can't open up a clinic here, even if it's only for a few years until after Brooke and I have finished having children."

"It will be her decision though," Spencer said.

"Yes, it will be," Aaron agreed calmly. "Still, I don't see Graciela objecting, because she's active enough that she only likes to be retired for a few years before she starts up a clinic somewhere else. Immortals move around a lot anyway you know, so perhaps Graciela and her mate can move here to Las Vegas, though I know it will be her decision."

"She and her mate will probably enjoy exploring Las Vegas when they are not too busy. Even if they have been here before it's probably been at least a few hundred years for them and a city can change a lot in that amount of time," Harper said. "I'll contact her right away and see what she thinks about our idea."

"I really don't believe that she or her mate will mind moving to Las Vegas for a few years, maybe even longer," Aaron said. "If some other Immortal needs her services, well, they know how to get in contact with her. She even has a website, but then most Immortals that are in any type of profession, need a way for people to find them, as it makes it easier to keep in contact. That doesn't mean that she doesn't serve mortals as well, but she won't travel to where they are."

"It pays to be careful even with Immortals until you get there measure and see if you can trust them. Most of us are very good at reading people if we're any age at all," Harper said.

"Not all Immortals are trustworthy," Aaron added.

"That makes sense if you ask me, since you were once humans," Spencer said. "The troublemakers might have been originally culled from becoming Immortal, but that was back when your race was first created, which was several thousand years ago at the very least. In that amount of time troublemakers and ones who are just plain lazy are bound to have been born. Your population might still be small but you're bound to have at least several hundred that just cause trouble wherever they go or are too lazy to actually do anything with their lives."

"Well, if they go against Ilithyia's strictures I have no doubt that they'll be stripped of their Immortality before they can blink," Harper said. "Really, a lot of things that mortals consider against the law Ilithyia allows, even if she disapproves. There're very few rules that we have to live by, but break a single one and you face the consequences."

"Still, we're basically free to live our lives the way we want," Aaron said. "One stricture is that you don't kill another Immortal, unless of course, you're defending your life or someone else's, especially your mate's."

"Of course, that includes mortals too, but it's especially repugnant to Ilithyia to kill one of your own race, a race that she created when the people were dropping like flies," Harper said.

"Still, that doesn't mean it doesn't happen from time to time," Aaron said.

"I'm not surprised considering that human beings kill each other all the time," Spencer said. "I can't really see Immortals being any different, even if it doesn't happen as often. Of course, the consequences are much more dire when you consider that losing your Immortality likely means losing your sense of identity. I won't be surprised if a lot of Immortals consider themselves somewhat superior to mortals and if they lose their Immortality, well, I won't be surprised if you tell me that they kill themselves."

"It has been known to happen," Aaron said glancing at Harper who nodded. "Not often certainly, but then, the Immortal population is much smaller than the mortal one, so we have fewer troublemakers."

"And we don't hear about everything that happens among other Immortals since we're so spread out and really there's no way to maintain contact unless of course you have a webpage or that Immortals personal link number or email address."

"That's why we have the symbol of the slightly slanted, backward Z with a line through the middle as it identifies us to other Immortals whenever we run across each other," Aaron said.

"It's why we gave you that ring with that symbol as well as the lapel pen and the necklace. Their discreet enough that most people won't notice them except Immortals who know to always look for that particular symbol."

"I had already figured out that was your way of identifying each other," Spencer said. "It's a big world after all and even though the Immortal population is small some of you are bound to run across each other at some point, especially since you like to travel. It's actually very smart, because most people will mistake it for some kind of fraternity symbol and only those that are into studying ancient symbols will know differently, but they'll still not understand the real meaning."

"That's why we started doing this as there got to be more and more Immortals," Harper said impressed with Spencer's reasoning just like always. Spencer was intelligent and logical to a fault, but he had a way of figuring things out for himself on little evidence or even just a few words.

"I believe it was started sometime in the late 19th century, 1865 or 1866," Aaron said. "There was some really nice jewelry stores by then mostly over in Europe. I'm not sure how it started however, or how word spread."

"Still, it is a very good idea," Spencer said, as he looked at his ring finger where his wedding ring resided as well as his engagement ring, which was a beautiful blue diamond, extremely rare and ultraexpensive. Then he looked at the finger beside it and saw the ring he had been given just a week after he had been turned Immortal and he always wore it, especially if he left the house and usually the lapel pin as well.

"Yeah, it is, as the jewelry is subtle and discreet," Aaron said.

"And I figured that's why you always put the symbol somewhere on the front of your house or if you have an apartment or condo on your door or your mailbox," Spencer said.

"That's why," Harper agreed kissing Spencer's cheek. "It identifies us as Immortal if one happens to pass our house. Aaron for instance knew immediately that my family was like he was and so there was no need for explanations as to his presence."

"Or find some other way to meet Harper that seemed natural, because her whole family was Immortal," Aaron said. "It's much easier when you meet your mate if they happen to be Immortal themselves, which doesn't always happen, as you know."

"Well, considering the limited number of you that's not surprising," Spencer said.

"Why don't you boys get dressed and all contact Graciela while you are, then get dressed myself," Harper said. "I'm sure we'll have to go to where she is for the first meeting, because I happen to know she has a room used for special patients in her home not that she brings many Immortals there. She has a lot of medical equipment stored away in there. She might not even have to set up a clinic, but we'll see what she says."

"It's not really a complicated procedure to draw eggs from a female," Spencer said. "As an Immortal you don't have to worry about an infection so she might be able to do it out of her own home, but we'll see what she says. Also a speculum is used to insert the embryos once they are ready through the vagina. It is a fairly invasive procedure, but not too complicated, not today at any rate, though it probably would've been considered so a few hundred years ago."

Aaron and Harper didn't comment about Spencer's knowledge knowing that he read just about everything and remembered it to due to his eidetic memory. Spencer's interest in learning was just one thing his father had always been on him about considering it abnormal for a boy to want to read and learn all the time, although from his mates point of view he should've been proud not displeased.

Harper disappeared after she had put on her robe while Spencer and Aaron began to get dressed.

"Just think in a few months Harper could be pregnant," Spencer told Aaron softly. "I've wanted children for a long time, so I'm really looking forward to this process working. There is a much higher success rate then there was back in the late 20th century or even the 21st. This is the 35th century and the IVF process has been nearly perfected. Most women who use it have the children they want, though there is still a small rate of failure, just like there is with any technology, but it usually has something to do with the woman in question, something that is preventing the embryos from attaching themselves to the uterine wall."

"We know that there's no problem with Harper though and if Ilithyia didn't prevent Immortals from getting pregnant too often we wouldn't have to do it this way. Oh, I understand why she had to arrange it the way she did as there has to be a balance as Diana suggested right before our wedding. Still, I'm glad this is a viable option, even if we can only use it this once in order to stop your father in particular from demanding you get a divorce or at least from getting suspicious as to why we aren't having children," Aaron said and Spencer nodded.

"I really didn't want to have to wait nearly a century to have a child anyway so yes, I'm glad that this is an option, though that's not the only reason of course," Spencer agreed. "I might've liked to wait a few more years before using this option, but my mom deserves grandchildren, though I'm not sure I want my father anywhere near them."

"We won't leave them alone with him," Aaron promised. "I know you had a rather rough childhood, but your father at least deserves to get to know his grandchildren. If he does anything we don't like we can always deny him access and your mother can babysit here at our house instead of her own."

"Or one of my siblings can," Spencer said brightening at that suggestion. "Alright, we'll give my father a chance, though if he messes it up I guarantee you I won't give him another. I won't have him trying to influence them into being something that they don't want to be or making snide little comments when they don't measure up in his estimation. If they want to be attorneys that's fine, but I won't have him pressuring them once they get old enough. Whatever they decide to do with their lives it will be their choice and while we can give them suggestions we will not force them into picking a particular career. That's one thing that annoyed me about my dad so much. Him pressuring me to go into a career that I would've been unhappy with at the very least. I doubt I would've remained an attorney for very long, likely no more than a few years, if I hadn't subtly put my foot down."

"We'll watch him carefully," Aaron agreed, as Harper came back from making her call.

"Watch who carefully?" Harper asked, as she came into the bedroom taking off robe.

"My father," Spencer answered briefly. "I was just telling Aaron I wasn't sure I wanted to give my dad the chance to try to influence my child into being a lawyer once they are old enough. Alright, it's okay to talk about the subject with them if they're interested, but I won't have him push any of our children into going into career that are not right for them. If dad wants to discuss the subject with him or her and tell them what being an attorney is like if they ask then that's okay."

"You're forgetting that they'll be our children and they'll only be the grandparents," Harper promised Spencer. "While grandparents do have a certain amount of influence, your father will be well aware of our opinion of him and so he'll likely watch his step in case we forbid him to see any of them."

"I was just promising him that we won't leave any child of ours alone with him," Aaron said. "I believe your father has changed for the better actually, at least from what little we've seen of him. I believe your mother finally got through to him that your life is your own and I believe he wouldn't dare try to change or disrupt it. I know you're unlikely to ever forgive him for the pressure he put you under and how he tried to force you onto a path you didn't want to walk, you shouldn't be forced to do so. Grandparents however, tend to be different with their grandchildren, then they were with their own kids. They tend to be more indulging. Sometimes just holding a grandchild in their arms will change a person irreversibly and for the better."

"Maybe," Spencer allowed. "I'll be watching him very closely though."

"We all will be," Harper promised. "Still, lets not worry about it right now. Lets wait until after these children are born before we do so. I'm not even pregnant yet, even if I hope soon to be. We have an appointment with Graciela at her home tomorrow. She's living in Philadelphia right now, but admitted that she and her mate have been there for quite some time and that it was probably time to move on."

"Well, your earlier idea may work after all," Spencer said smiling. "It sure is a strange coincidence that Graciela and her mate are ready to move elsewhere at the same time we're ready to start a family."

"I see the hand of Ilithyia in the timing of this, though I suppose it could just be coincidence," Aaron said.

"It could be, but I doubt it is," Harper said.

"So what time tomorrow do we need to be there?" Spencer asked.

"Right after lunch, about 1:30," Harper answered.

"Well, that just means we won't have to get up too early, because it's not that long of a trip considering how fast shuttles are nowadays," Aaron said. "I had better make a reservation now, before the first-class places are taken up."

"I doubt that'll happen, since first class is rather expensive," Harper said. "Still, you better go make those reservations say for as close to 9 o'clock as you can get, just to give us plenty of time."

Aaron went to make the call and was back within a few minutes saying they had a flight out for 9:40.

"They didn't have one going to Philadelphia any closer than that, but we should still make it in plenty of time."

"That's just fine as it will give us time for nice, long, lazy breakfast or perhaps lunch, once we get there," Harper said.

"We could even explore some of the city since we're going anyway after our appointment, as it shouldn't take too long," Spencer said.

"Maybe, we can stay for dinner," Aaron suggested. "Maybe we'll be able to catch a few of the sites before we head back home."

"We'll see how our time shakes out," Harper said. "We can always go back someday soon and stay for a day or two, explore some of the city.

"Sounds good to me," Spencer said smiling.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	30. Chapter 30

Part 30

"Well, it looks like we had the same idea," Brooke said smiling. She and Jeremy had moved into his apartment together after they married, but they would soon need more space, because they too had been discussing about starting a family. "Jeremy and I have been discussing about starting a family too."

"Well, now that's a rather strange coincidence," Aaron said his lips twitching.

"Not really, because you know I've been wanting children and we only waited til now, because we wanted a little time alone before we thought about that," Brooke's said, while smiling at Aaron.

"Well, since we both want families around the same time I think one of us is going to need to wait a few months so that we don't have them too close together," Harper said. "We need to agree about who's going to go first and then wait at least three or four months before the other one goes and has the operation done. We don't want to go into labor at the same time, because Graciela's going to have her hands full with just one of us and she doesn't need both of us to deal with."

"I doubt she would agree to do both of you at the same time anyway, as she seems too sensible for that," Spencer said.

"You're probably right," Brooke considered. "I guess you could go first and then Jeremy and I will have it done just a few months after it's confirmed you're pregnant and that way our children will be basically the same age."

"Look at it this way, this will give you and Jeremy time to find a suitable house," Spencer said. "The apartment was fine for just you and him, but now that you want to start a family you're going to need more space."

"That's a good point," Brooke said. "It really is a good idea for you to go first, as finding another place was something that Jeremy and I hadn't considered."

"It would have occurred to you probably in a few days or possibly a few weeks," Aaron said. "If you don't find anything in time you can always move in here temporarily, since we definitely have the space."

"We might have to do that, but we'll see if we can find anything suitable first," Brooke said. "We're going to want something fairly large because Jeremy and I are not going to stop with just doing IVF one time. I suspect we'll probably go through it all three times just like Graciela said other Immortals have done."

"And you can always have twins implanted every time so that way you can have a large family relatively quickly," Harper told her sister.

"I've never had a child before and twins are a lot of responsibility," Brooke said biting her lip.

"I think there are some houses for sale in this neighborhood and that way you'll be close so that we can help out," Aaron said, distracting Brooke. "I remember one down the block where the family moved out a couple of years back and it's never sold."

"Yeah, I know, which one you're talking about. It's a big rambling old place that probably needs at least some work before it will be a great place to live. It's a lot of money though, which is likely why nobody has bought it," Harper said.

"Well, money we have between Jeremy and I," Brooke said brightening. "I've hardly spent any of my trust fund that dad set up for me and I've also made a few investments of my own that turned into real moneymakers. Jeremy's business is also doing well so we can easily afford this house you mentioned if we like it. It would be nice for us to live close together and that way we'd see each other practically every day."

"We see each other a lot now, but yes, it would be nice as we can help you look after your children and you could do the same," Harper said. "Aaron and I will teach you all the tricks of looking after two small children or possibly three at the same time. You can also buy a nanny droid, although I know that we don't usually use them, but if we get one of the top-of-the-line models..."

"Not a bad idea," Brooke mused. "I've never had the same prejudice against them that dad and Aunt Emily have."

"I can understand why they have a prejudice though. They would have been around when the technology was new and they weren't as reliable back then," Harper said.

"Even my family has a droid to clean the house when we're not there and it saves my mother loads of time," Spencer said. "We had a nanny droid when we were very small so that both my parents could work. It was a present from my grandparents on my mother's side of the family I believe."

"Well, I say that we both get one, as we're not going to want to change diapers or whatever when a nanny droid can do so," Brooke said.

"We've never had one, but maybe it's time," Harper considered. "I'd much rather spend time with Aaron and Spencer then do things like change diapers. We won't depend on them for every little thing, but at night it would be really convenient."

"When we go out for dinner or something we'll call a babysitter, which will likely be one of our parents or siblings, because I'm not going to depend on a droid, since some burglar could break into the house, even though we have an excellent security system," Aaron said.

"It should be, as mom taught me everything she knows about them and it was one of the best on the market before I added a few bells and whistles," Harper smirked. "It will be very hard to break into this house, though I won't say it's impossible, but the remote would have to be designed specifically for the system and whoever did so would have to have the blueprints. Of course, those blueprints would be for the original system and not include all the bells and whistles I've added since."

Harper had a real knack with security systems, a talent she had inherited from her mother that unfortunately, Brooke hadn't.

"You could do the same thing to whatever security system we buy for the house we'r* going to get," Brooke said.

"I'll help you choose the system if you like. I know which ones are the best and are hard to defeat, even without all the bells and whistles I will add," Harper said.

"That would be good and I'm sure Jeremy will be grateful once I tell him, as he'll want his family to be safe," Brooke said.

"So the two of you were doing okay?" Harper asked.

"We are doing great," Brooke beamed. "He treats me like a queen."

"Good, I won't have to twist his balls off then and shove them down his throat then," said Harper only partly in jest.

"You really didn't expect anything to be wrong did you?" Aaron asked amused. "You knew that once Jeremy was Immortal that he would feel the bond with Brooke and therefore, be more likely to treat her like a queen,* just like Spencer and I do you."

"And vice versa," Harper said. "And no, I didn't necessarily expect anything to be wrong, but considering Jeremy's original reaction..."

"Thanks for checking anyway, but Jeremy and I are doing great," Brooke promised. "We haven't decided to suddenly have children just to save our marriage like happens far too often, we just decided that it was time."

"Which just happens to coincide with our decision," Spencer who had been listening to the conversation said.

"It happens that way sometimes," Brooke shrugged.

"It might have happened this time because Brooke and I have always shared a connection being twins and all," Harper said. "Yes, I know we're fraternal, but being Immortal enhances that connection."

"Or it might not have anything to do with our twin connection at all, but the fact that our brains often appear to be on the same wavelength," Brooke said.

"Why don't you go tell Jeremy that you're going to wait a few months to do that IVF process and that will give you time to look over the house down the block and see if it's suitable. If it's not we'll help you find another preferably in this neighborhood so you're not too far away," Harper said. "I miss having you live with us, but I do understand why Jeremy and you wanted your own place."

"And this way you lot can make love in the living room or anywhere you like without having to worry about Jeremy or I seeing," Brooke teased her sister.

Spencer blushed at Brooke's rejoiner, mostly because they had indeed made love in front of the fireplace in the living room more than once in the last three years.

"That's true," Harper said smiling, as she remembered a few of those times they had made love in front of a roaring fire.

Aaron smiled as well for he had enjoyed those sessions immensely. He remembered how both he and Spencer had their way with the woman they loved multiple times in one night on several different occasions already. He expected that to continue for centuries to come.

"Tell me how your appointment goes and definitely when you know you're pregnant," Brooke requested.

"I will," Harper promised her sister. "When it's your turn make sure you do the same. I suspect that the two of us will think of each other's children as our own anyway, since we are so close."

"Probably, and if we do I won't mind that at all," Brooke grinned.

"I don't plan on telling the family though until we're sure it worked," Harper commented. "There's no point of getting them excited until we know and as for Spencer's family I don't plan on mentioning it either, not for awhile."

"Probably a good idea," Brooke conceded.

"Once we're sure the process has been successful, we can tell the various parties that have a right to know," Spencer said.

"So when is your appointment?" Brooke asked.

"Tomorrow 1:30," Harper answered. "It's just the first appointment though, so I don't think she'll be doing anything until I have an examination and all that, though maybe she'll skip it since she's been there for the birth of every single one of my twins."

Everybody chatted for a few minutes and then Harper offered to make a meal so that they could eat before Brooke headed home.

"No, that's okay I need to get home and start fixing dinner," Brooke said. "Perhaps, another time."

"Or you can invite Jeremy over here to eat," Spencer suggested. "It's been a few weeks since I've seen him anyway and it will be nice to talk to him."

"That's not a bad idea," Brooke conceded and put her link on privacy mode in order to contact her husband.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"It worked," Harper told her two mates, thrilled. It was a several months later but finally Harper knew she was pregnant. It had taken time to set up a clinic in Las Vegas, to find a location for it and make sure that it looked like it had been there for a long time. It was only meant to fool casual observers like Spencer's father who likely wouldn't bother to look up the clinic on the Internet. It was just meant to look like it had been there for several years at least, just in case, someone got curious about the place. Of course, the people that lived in the area would know that it hadn't existed before, but the likelihood of William Reid overhearing comments about the fact that it was a new clinic that had just been set up were slim to none.

"With one or two?" Spencer asked immediately.

"Both samples caught so right now I'm carrying twins," Harper announced. "Or at least that's what Graciela said."

"This is good news indeed," Aaron said smiling clearly happy at the news.

"Well, we knew this was going to work from the beginning, so I'm not really surprised, but still, happy that it did," Spencer said kissing Harper passionately.

"I don't blame you, considering you've never had a child before," Aaron said.

"Well, gentlemen, in a few months, Spencer is going to be a father and next time we try this, in a couple years of course, both of them will be yours Aaron just like Spencer suggested awhile back. Only that time I could have them naturally, as it's about time for me to be able to get pregnant in the normal way."

"That's a good point," Aaron said smiling at the thought.

"If you do get pregnant naturally and you have twins again, which you will, since it's happened every time so far, it might be just a little suspicious, Especially it happens next time to when we go through IVF again," Spencer mentioned frowning a little in worry.

"I doubt your father knows how often twins are actually produced," Harper suggested, the scorn in her voice obvious. "Really, most people don't know anything about how often twins are born and it's much more often in the 35th century then would have been way back in the 20th. I doubt he'll care, but if he bothers to ask, we'll simply tell him that twins do run on both sides of our family and I also have the perfect body shape to carry them to term. It's also been speculated over the centuries that more than half of female pregnancies start off as twins, but a lot of times one of the twins vanishes for a lot of reasons. I doubt he'll inquire again if we simply overload him with facts about twins and in fact, he'll likely only half listen and probably be sorry he asked in the first place. Your mother of course, will know the truth and be ecstatic at getting so many grandchildren close together, but won't say anything."

Spencer laughed at that, because that definitely sounded like his father at Harper sure did have his old man pegged and also his* mother.

"I've only been pregnant a few days according to her, so there's still a chance of one of the eggs splitting creating an identical twin sometime in the next couple of days, since neither of them split in the petri dish this time. I'm not saying that's likely to happen, just that it's possible."

"Yeah, it should happen within 2 to 5 days," Spencer said. "Any later than that and we could end up with conjoined twins, but luckily, they're extremely rare."

"And with the medical technology nowadays they hardly ever happen, except under very rare conditions," Harper said. "I've done my research to, though I probably don't know as much about them as you do."

"So when do we tell the family?" Aaron asked. "I'll leave the decision up to you two, since to me, you're going to be the parents and I'll just be the loving, adoring uncle."

"No matter what they call you you'll still be their father as well," Spencer told Aaron. "Still, I suppose that calling you uncle is okay for convenience sake. As for when we tell the family I say we wait a few months until we're sure that this pregnancy isn't going to suddenly develop problems. Besides, I would like to keep the news between the three of us for at least a little while and savor it. I don't think I've absorbed the fact yet that I'm soon going to be a father, something I've wanted for a long time. I definitely know a lot of the things not to do, since I certainly remember my father's parenting technique."

"You'll be a great father," Harper told him sincerely kissing his cheek. "After all, you've seen what bad parenting can do. Yes, I know your father never physically abused you, but that doesn't mean that what he did to you couldn't be considered a type of abuse, even if it's harder to pin down. I mean he hardly gave you the attention you would a stray cat, much less his son whom he supposedly loved."

"Except to pressure you and when you weren't turn out the way he wanted and nearly abandoned you," Aaron added his voice a growl. "Oh, you lived in the same house, but he was hardly any influence on your life in a positive way."

"Which is why I'll do much better then he will.* I'll give any child of mine or yours Aaron the attention they deserve," Spencer said. "I know I have a business to run which is slowly growing, but still, I'll likely cut back and spend more time with my family as I never imagined I'd have one."

"You'll be a wonderful father," Aaron assured him.

"And we'll be here to help guide you," Harper said. "Aaron and I have had children before, but you haven't."

"I'll take all the help I can get and I'm sure mom will also help us out," Spencer said. "Whitney is also a great mother to her two, though I think she wants to have another, as she mentioned something about it not too long ago."

"Well, she better hurry up and have at least one more because she's only two years younger than you are and you're nearly 40, technically anyway," Harper said.

"Maybe technically, but I sure don't look it and I didn't even while I was still mortal," Spencer smiled. "I think my sister might actually do it and this will give her three. The youngest one is old enough now to not be such a handful and my sister is still young enough to have three or four more she wants to, through I doubt she'll have that many. I can see her have one more, perhaps two, then not having any after that."

"At least your mother finally got a grandchild out of your brother," Harper mentioned smiling.

"Yeah, it was about time Flint and his wife finally decided they were ready to have children, but since he's practically the youngest, except for my twin sisters I can understand them wanting to wait awhile. He's the only one that got married almost of soon as he finished college,* though mom and dad wanted him to get his career established first, but they've done well and even my father will have to admit that. I'm very proud of him myself, as they managed to maintain their relationship and were sensible enough to wait to have children until both of them were firmly established in their careers."

"Well, none of your siblings are stupid and in fact, they're all very intelligent," Aaron said. "They all seem to be sensible too."

"They are for the most part, though you know that we do act rash sometimes. Just think about what Jeremy did back when he learned Brooke's secret," Spencer said.

"That's in the past," Harper said. "Everybody has different triggers as to what sets them off and Jeremy's is the fact that he doesn't like to be made a fool of, but considering what happened when he was 17 I can't blame him. Now, that he's Immortal he likely won't act rash where Brooke or any children are concerned unless they are in possible danger."

"The way they bill and coo at each other can be kind of sickening sometimes," Aaron grinned to show he was joking.

"Considering we do the same thing all the time, even when they are around I don't think we have a right to comment," Spencer smiled.

"I suppose not," Aaron conceded still smiling.

"I'm glad that Jeremy and Brooke like the house down the block so much as it keeps them really close by," Harper said.

"I'm glad Jeremy was sensible and agreed to wait to use IVF until after they found a place and got it at least mostly set up," Aaron said,

"Jeremy is usually very sensible, though he does have his moments," Spencer commented. "He saw the logic in our suggestion as he hadn't thought about the fact that his apartment is too small to raise even one child much less two. His emotions are just closer to the surface then mine are that's all."

"Well, yes, I had noticed he seemed sensible in most ways," Aaron admitted.

"Well, Jeremy has settled down now that he and Brooke are together permanently and that's what matters," Harper said.

"Besides, Jeremy knows that Brooke isn't going to get too old to have children, so he can be patient," Spencer said. "There's no need to rush. It won't be long before Brooke is pregnant too, probably no more than say three months or so. That's long enough from when you conceived that she's not likely to go into labor at the same time as Harper and if she does then something's seriously wrong."

"Yes, three months should do it, and Brooke would be willing to wait that long. Nobody has to know that we both went through IVF," Harper agreed

"Mom will know, but she won't say anything," Spencer said, basically repeating what Harper had already said. "She'll be just thrilled to have so many grandchildren close together."

"And happy that we plan on doing it again," Harper added.

"Yeah, she'll be ecstatic," Spencer agreed grinning. "She loves children, which is why she had so many herself instead of just stopping at 3 or 4 like most couples do. Of course, I realize that finances also play a part in how many children a family has, as do other factors."

"I had better tell Brooke that I'm expecting," Harper said, "as we did promise."

"I don't mind if you do, since she and Jeremy deserve to know, but other than that I'd rather keep it to ourselves for a little longer, at least a month or so," Spencer said.

"Which is just fine. I think we all need time to be happy about it, to absorb the news, even if we knew it would work," Aaron said.

"Yes, it rarely ever fails, unless there is some outside factor at work," Spencer said grinning from ear to ear knowing that in a few months he was going to be a father. "I'm so happy. I've been happy actually ever since you got your hands on me."

"You sure were reluctant at first," Harper teased him.

"Let's just say I hadn't had very positive experiences with relationships," Spencer shrugged. "While my break up with Maeve was amicable it still hurt, though not as much as it would have if I had really, truly loved her," Spencer said. "I thought I did for awhile, but now I know that I just lusted after her as she had a fine mind and she was very beautiful. Still, we did manage to remain friends, that's something anyway."

"She was the first and only woman that you've dated seriously, so of course it was going to hurt when you broke up," Aaron said. "I never dated a woman to seriously, because I didn't want anyone of them to think that they could possibly get me to marry them, as I was still looking for my mate. Unlike me, you had no idea that you had a mate since you were mortal at the time, but every Immortal knows that they have at least one mate out there, so most of them don't seriously date, although we do have friends and can get attached to people. Besides, it could take us centuries to find our mate and we can't remain virgins for all that time."

"No, that would be ridiculous," Spencer said snorting at that idea. "Having to relieve your own cock for centuries would drive just about any male insane, especially if they have a strong libido."

"Like me," Aaron said, grinning. "I've always had a strong sexual drive, so no, there's no way I could remain a virgin forever, even if I was always careful to use a condom. Unfortunately, not every Immortal is so sensible."

"I think we should do something to celebrate the fact that I'm pregnant," Harper said.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Spencer said. "I know I'm not the most romantic guy in the world, but I have Aaron to help me out there."

"You will be, you just need a little experience that's all," Aaron said. "The bond between you and Harper will deepen and grow over the centuries and soon you'll seem like the most romantic guy on the planet, because you'll love her so much that you'll want to do stuff for her. The reverse is also true."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Spencer said pursing his lips in thought. He thought about everything Harper had done for him over the last 3+ years and realized that this was her way of showing him that she loved him.

"So what you you suggest we do to celebrate this happy news?" Aaron asked Harper and Spencer.

"Well, what about this?" Harper said making a suggestion.

"That sounds like a fine idea to me," Spencer said. "A nice quiet dinner followed by tickets to see a play."

"Alright then," Aaron said. "I'll make dinner reservations at our favorite place, while you see if you can get tickets to that play we've been wanting to see."

"You know it may just be easier to get season tickets even if we only go to a few productions a year," Spencer said.

"We could, but while I don't object to spending the money it just seems like such a waste, since we only go to a few plays a year," Harper said.

"We can always give our tickets to someone in the family if we don't want to see that specific play," Aaron suggested.

"Well, I suppose we can try it," Harper conceded. "It sure would mean that we got tickets to the plays we did want to see and good seats to."

The three of them went their separate ways, all very happy that there would soon be twins to take care of.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	31. Chapter 31

Part 31

"I'm so happy!" Diana nearly squealed excitedly when she was told that Harper was pregnant weeks later. Harper was now eight weeks along.

"I knew you would be, mom," Spencer said smiling.

"So you went through the IVF process," Diana said and all three nodded.

"Yeah, we did," Aaron said. "We're kind of speculating that it's the way for Ilithyia to bend the rules about Immortals having children every 70 or 75 years. We believe it will only work under certain conditions."

"You think the process will only work when one of your mates starts out as mortal and they have close family who will be expecting children in a reasonable amount of time," Diana said and Aaron and Harper looked at her in amazement. They now knew where Spencer got his reasoning abilities from.

"That's exactly why and how did you figure that out so fast?" Harper asked looking at Diana in amazement. She had always known that Spencer was intelligent and could put bits of info together quickly, but now it was clear where that intelligence came from.

"You must remember that I've had plenty of time to think of things like that over the last few years," Diana said. "It just kind of seemed to make sense that the only way the process would work on an Immortal was if one of their mate's started out as mortal, and that former mortal had close family. Some of the mortals that turn out to be a Immortal's mate might not have any family to speak of or aren't close to them, but that's not going to happen all the time."

"No, it's not, as it goes against the law of averages," Aaron agreed smiling.

"So are both of them yours Spencer or is one yours Aaron," Diana asked. "I won't care either way, though Will probably will."

"Both of them are mine," Spencer answered his mother smiling. "We all agreed that that's the way it would be this time and that next time they'll both be Aaron's."

"Harper and I have had children before, though not in decades, so it seemed only right that both of them were Spencer's, since he's never been a father before," Aaron said.

"So what doctor did you use?" Diana asked.

"You don't know her, but she has a close connection to my family, as she's been a friend of my dad's for centuries," Harper said. "Her name is Graciela DeWitt and she's been a doctor for a very long time. She's one that told us it was possible to use IVF to have children, but only under certain conditions."

"So she's someone you trust then," Diana said.

"Absolutely, as she's helped deliver every single one of my children and she did the same for my father, mother and aunts," Harper said. "She's very experienced and she had the required knowledge to do the IVF process and also the appropriate equipment."

"So do you fly somewhere to see her?" Diana asked.

"She's actually set up a clinic here in Las Vegas, just for us and Brooke and Jeremy of course. We didn't force a decision on her or anything, as she and her mate were willing since she was basically retired," Aaron explained

"Immortals do that every few decades if they have a profession that they enjoy. It's time to relax and not worry about others, though they are also willing to help out if there is some kind of emergency," Harper added. "Once they've had a nice long break they just set up somewhere else. Since Immortals don't get sick and only need a doctor for certain things, they do serve mortals."

"It sounds like a sensible policy to me," Diana said approvingly. "We humans can't work all the time, as we need breaks in between or we have breakdowns from stress or at least are tired all the time, though most of us enjoy our retirement years. I could retire right now and live very comfortably and I might do that in another decade or so, but right now I'm enjoying teaching to much to consider it."

"Now that's something I agree with," Aaron said smiling.

"So when will you tell everyone else in the family?" Diana asked.

"We just thought we would tell them when we see them and not make a big announcement," said Spencer. "I suppose we could have them gather at some restaurant, just like we did for you and tell them over lunch or dinner, but considering how busy we all that's not really practical. You can tell dad if you want, as I think the less I see of him the better."

"What about after your twins are born?" Diana questioned.

"I know you mean whether or not I'm going to let dad anywhere near my kids and the answer is yes, but he will be closely monitored, something I'm sure he'll be aware of. I will not have any child of mine pressured or bullied into going into a certain profession once they get old enough and I will not have dad make nasty little innuendos, like he did with me, mostly while you weren't around. You know how some men do when they don't get precisely what they want and I know from experience that dad doesn't deal with disappointment well," Spencer said.

"Unfortunately true," Diana sighed.

"I think I've broken tradition quite thoroughly when it comes to the oldest being a lawyer and I don't see the point of restarting that tradition unless that's what our child wants. I know human nature is wide and varied, but how a can a father be disappointed in his own child, instead of proud just because that child is not turning out like they expect is a mystery to me," Spencer said shaking his head. "I will not have that kind of treatment happen to my own children now or in the future."

"I can't blame you there," Diana sighed again. "Will really put you through the ringer for most of your childhood and to a lesser extent his other children to. He was such a loving man when we first met and married. It was only after you turned five or so that he started to change. I knew he was under a lot of pressure from work and everything, but I had no idea that he had very firm ideas of what his oldest child at least should be like, as I'm sure he would have put the same amount of pressure on a daughter."

"So many parents have expectations for their children and don't take disappointment well when they turn out to be totally different," Aaron said.

"So many people crack under the pressure placed upon them," Harper said. "Spencer didn't, but then he's very strong mentally and emotionally, which some people aren't."

"It doesn't matter," Spencer said. "I have the both of you and that's all that matters to me. Having children is just icing on the cake."

Diana observed Spencer, Aaron and Harper and could see her son was happy with them and was excited about becoming a father and that was all that mattered to her. Her son was truly happy with his life and for that reason alone Diana would've accepted Harper and Aaron into her family. That she genuinely liked them a great deal helped to smooth any transition there had been back when she had first met them.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the birth of my grandchildren," Diana said, she ate her dinner.

"We know," Aaron, Spencer and Harper said together grinning. "So are we."

"My family is really looking forward to their births to," Harper added.

"Well, I always thought that a new baby's birth should be celebrated, though I know that doesn't always happen," Diana said.

"Not everybody loves children the way we do," Aaron said smiling.

"It helps that we really love each other and therefore, each child born is a gift of that love," said Harper.

"Now there is an opinion I definitely agree with," Diana said approvingly. "So what about Jeremy and Brooke?"

"They are going to get pregnant in another month," Spencer explained calmly. "For one thing Jeremy's apartment is too small for a child and is barely big enough for the two of them."

"I hadn't considered that, but you're right," Diana agreed. "So it was better for you to be pregnant first and then Brooke and once they find somewhere suitable to live she'll be pregnant shortly afterwards."

"Oh they've already found somewhere suitable," Harper grinned. "It's only a few doors down from us, it needs a little fixing up that's all. The family moved away and it's been up for sale for a couple years now. It's better to get any renovations out of the way now before Brooke even considers getting pregnant."

"Besides, it's a good idea for them to wait at least a couple of months, as Graciela will have enough to do with just Harper here without having Brooke going to labor at basically the same time."

"So the house just needs want a few cosmetic repairs?" Diana asked.

"Mostly," Harper said. "Brooke and Jeremy had the foundation inspected to make sure that it was solid, then the rest of the house. The house is in good shape it's mostly just cosmetic repairs as you suggested. The bathrooms need updating, so does the kitchen and a more modern heating and cooling system installed as the other one is ancient, but other than that..."

"That will be expensive, especially the kitchen," Diana said.

"Don't worry about that Brooke can afford it, even without Jeremy contributing. Our father made sure both Brooke and I were well set financially. He taught us everything he knows about investing. We were also taught how to be sensible, and not blow our money on constant frivolous things. Splurging every once in awhile is okay, but not to go overboard on clothes and jewelry or other things. Immortal tend to travel a lot in their very long lives and I know that sometimes dad's wives just disappear for a few days to the spa or something, but you have to do something so you're not bored just so long as you don't spend millions of dollars in one go, unless it's for something like a house. Something major in other words, and not on things that will only last a short while and aren't really important in the long run. Things that you lose interest in after awhile."

"Now that's something I approve of," Diana said smiling approvingly. "I really liked your family when I met them at the wedding, but your father definitely impressed me and continues to do so."

"Don't worry Immortals are constantly looking for new investments if they're at all patient and intelligent," Aaron said smiling. "That's not to say that we don't have some that don't have much money either, because they don't have the patience to let it build or because they are lousy at investing."

"When that happens it's not our problem," Harper shrugged. "Well, unless it's someone in our family that just had some bad luck or something."

"It does make sense, as Immortals were once human after all and a lot of humans don't have that innate business sense, though they can learn from experience," Diana offered, as she ate her lunch.

"Yes, Immortals have some of the same problems," Aaron said smiling.

"So I should have what? Four grandchildren within the next year or so?" Diana asked.

"At least that many," Harper said smiling. "With IVF though, the possibility is higher that the embryos will split to where we'll get a pair of identical twins, so that will make triplets. It might not happen this time, but it's possible. As you have already guessed yes, Brooke and Jeremy plan on having two embryos implanted as well."

"It was easy to guess, since I know you can only try this a certain amount of times and you both want several children. This is your only opportunity to have more then one or two running around at a time at least from what I remember you telling me," Diana said.

"As for me I've always had twins, but since this is Brooke's first time having children there's no telling if she'll have twins every time without using IVF. I suspect that she'll have a singleton every time after this, because I don't see Ilithyia granting her favor three times to the same family, especially since Brooke and I are twins and therefore, born within a short time of each other. It's all about balance as you said once when we first told you about our Immortality," said Harper. "I'm not saying that Brooke and I won't ever have children close together again, but I suspect she'll only have one."

"But since you're so close to each other she'll only treat your children like her own anyway, so it will almost be like having three for each of you," Aaron said.

"That's true enough," Harper agreed smiling.

"I'll tell Will about your pregnancy and I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it," Diana said. "Also, I'm very proud of you, Spencer, for allowing your father to see his grandchildren, especially considering what he put you through. You have every right to deny him the chance. I'm actually surprised you haven't disowned him completely."

"I thought about it," Spencer admitted, "but I wouldn't do that to you mom just because dad doesn't appreciate how I turned out."

"He's changed a lot you know," Diana said. "He finally understands that enormity of his actions."

"Even if that's true, that doesn't mean I want anything to do with him. Who knows if he had treated me well, from the time I was really young, I might have become a lawyer. I vaguely remember being interested initially, but I couldn't even get him to answer the most basic questions as he just brushed them aside. Who knows if he'd actually taken the time to answer my questions, I might've turned out more like he wanted me to be."

"Will and I have talked about this and he now understands the mistakes he made with you and to a lesser extent with all his children," said Diana. "I know it's much too late and I don't blame you for your intense dislike of your father at least. If you know how many arguments we had about his treatment of you and to a lesser extent your siblings..."

"I had guessed as much," Spencer said. "I only remember hearing one argument, but I figured there had been others behind closed doors, which with the soundproofing, I never would've heard. Thanks for always standing by me mom, I really appreciate it."

"Of course I stood by you, Spencer," Diana said seriously. "You're my son, I love you, and it's not like you had committed some kind of capital crime. All you did was turn into someone who was an individual and not like a clone of your father."

"Of course, 'he' didn't agree," Spencer snorted sounding very cynical.

"He just used the Reid stubbornness in the wrong way something he realizes now, though he also knows it's years too late, decades to late really. I tried to get him to see reason on many occasions and so did your grandfather who is technically, head of the family and will be until he dies. Your grandfather would never have let Will disown you for example, as he saw nothing wrong with you not wanting to be a lawyer. We both told Will on multiple occasions that traditions were made to be broken, but as you know your father didn't listen," Diana said.

"That's probably the understatement of the decade," Spencer snorted. "Let's talk about something else, like the upcoming births of my first children ever. I know it's still months away but I can hardly wait."

"That's the way you should be feeling," Diana said smiling approvingly at his son. "I certainly had a hard time waiting for your birth and every birth thereafter."

"We always look forward to the birth of any children we happen to have, even though it's just routine now," Aaron told Diana who nodded approvingly.

"We only get a chance once every hundred years, though at least I have twins every time so that our children have a playmate that is just like them, though now I'll be able to have three children, maybe four children close together if I happen to have twins by Spencer as well." Harper said. "Most Immortals aren't so lucky you know, as most only have one child at a time, which is a shame, even if I understand why Ilithyia had to arrange it that way."

Graciela had told them when they asked that Ilithyia would allow a female to get pregnant twice when she had two mates that were both male, as even her father hadn't been entirely sure if his daughter would be able to get pregnant more than once, even with more than one mate. It had been a great relief to everyone that this was the case.

The five of them chatted as they ate and then had several glasses of very excellent wine before they parted, all except for Harper who stuck to soda, because she was pregnant and she didn't want to chance of harming the twins she was now carrying.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Diana informed her husband that Harper was pregnant with twins and that both were Spencer's as they already had the appropriate test done to know which of Harper's husbands was the father. Diana, of course, didn't say what about the fact that Spencer and Harper had used IVF, as that was a secret she would take to her grave, because normally, that would be no reason to use such a service since Harper was young and healthy.

Will was very happy with the news. He had feared for the last year anyway that Spencer and Harper would be incompatible enough to not have children but apparently, he was wrong and for once he was happy he was.

"So it's twins then?" Will asked.

"They do run in both sides of the family, which does increase the odds," Diana suggested not telling her husband that Harper and Spencer had used IVF and had had two eggs implanted deliberately.

Diana said nothing else, but it was clear husband was very happy with getting a couple of grandchildren from his oldest son.

"So how far along is Harper?" asked Will.

"She's still in the really early stages, so about eight weeks," Diana said.

Diana knew that six weeks was as soon as you could tell if you were carrying twins or not.

"So I take it you were given permission to inform me," Will said.

"I was, as Spencer avoids you as much as possible and you know the reason why he does, so there's no need to rehash old history. You know why Spencer doesn't want anything to do with you, so why bother to dredge it up?" Diana said.

Will sighed, but nodded, as knew his oldest son had every right to hate his very existence.

"Will I be allowed contact with my grandchildren?" Will asked next.

"Yes. Spencer doesn't hate you enough to not allow you contact with your grandchildren," Diana said. "However, there are conditions."

"I already figured there would be if my son allowed me to see them at all," Will said. "I was prepared for the possibility that he wouldn't allow me access to any children that he and Harper had.

"Good," Diana said approvingly.

"So what are these conditions?" Will asked, though he was not looking forward to hearing what kind of conditions his son wanted to impose on his time with his grandchildren. He couldn't blame Spencer really, considering that he had made his son's childhood very tough at the least and also a lot of his adulthood

and he knew his son feared that he would try to do the same with his grandchildren.

"One: you are not too badger them into becoming a lawyer when they are old enough. Spencer and Harper believe that that tradition has been broken quite throughly and there's no need to restart it unless that's what the child wants," Diana began and Will nodded having been expecting it. "If they are genuinely interested in what you do you can answer their questions, but you will not make any suggestions in that direction, as the child will be allowed to make up their own mind when it comes time for them to go off to college. Two: you will be closely monitored whenever you spend time with any of their children, whether those are Aaron's or Spencer's and any sign that you are starting to bully the child like you did Spencer when he was young those visitation rights will vanish. I doubt very much that Spencer or Aaron for that matter will give you a second chance so don't blow it. Believe me, all three of them and probably the others in the family will be watching you closely to make sure there isn't a repeat of when Spencer was a child."

"Well, there're far fewer conditions than I expected," Will sighed.

"Spencer's not an unreasonable man despite your attempts to force him into your mold," Diana told Will. "You would know this, if you hadn't wrecked any chance of being close to your son due to your own stubbornness."

"I know," Will said, sighing sadly.

"Keep that in mind and you might actually get to see your grandchildren grow up," Diana said. "Wreck your chance and Spencer has already promised that I can babysit at their place and I will always be welcome while you will be excluded. Personally, I think Spencer is being very generous with his father who couldn't appreciate him for his talents until he had already wrecked his relationship with him. As much as I don't want to see it happen he has every right to exclude you from his life completely and if it wasn't so big hearted he probably would have disowned you."

Will winced at that, but knew he deserved it, as not only had he treated his son like shit when he was a child by trying to force him into his own mold, he had tried to break up his relationship with Harper, just because she already had a husband. Just because he didn't approve of those group marriages didn't mean that any of his children agreed with him and they were all strong enough to do what they wanted without letting their father change their minds. He knew now that Spencer would have eloped with Harper without a qualm, even if he had tried his best to break them up it never would have worked, as his son was just a stubborn as he was. He had come to realize recently that Spencer was stronger mentally and emotionally than he had given him credit for in the past. For his son had grown his own way despite his father trying to force him into a certain mold and that took enormous strength of character.

"So any news on Jeremy and Brooke?" Will asked.

"No, but you have to remember that Jeremy's apartment isn't suitable to raise a family. I was just told actually, that they've already found a house in the same neighborhood as Spencer's, Harper's and Aaron's. In fact, it's only a few houses down from theirs. "

"I hadn't thought of that, but that's true," Will conceded.

"Apparently, Harper suggested it to them. She told me it had been on sale for several years already and that the owners were anxious to sell."

"I hope the house wasn't too bad of shape," Will said looking a little worried

"It wasn't. It was mostly cosmetic repairs. You know Jeremy's not stupid and he had the foundation and then the house itself inspected. The bathrooms are extremely old-fashioned, the kitchen needs updating and a more modern heating and cooling system needs to be installed, but other than that, the house is in good shape. It needs a few coats of paint inside and outside or wallpaper, but really the house is in more than decent shape," Diana explained.

"That's good," Will said looking relieved.

"I suspect that Brooke will be pregnant shortly once all the repairs are finished," Diana added.

"What makes you think that? I would think that she and Jeremy might want to wait another year at least," Will asked.

"Because she and her sister are extremely close, as you should have observed for yourself and they want their children to be close in age," Diana answered truthfully. "There probably won't be more than three or four months difference between them."

"Well, they did get married at the same time instead of doing two separate ceremonies, so I suppose, I shouldn't be surprised if they want to get pregnant close together," Will mused.

"It's that way with a lot of twins and I won't be surprised if Narissa and Nyssa, get married at the same time, but only if they meet their guys close together like happened in Spencer and Jeremy's case," Diana said.

Will had to agree that his two twin daughters were close, which wasn't surprising considering, so he wouldn't be surprised if his wife prediction came true.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	32. Chapter 32

Part 32

"Well, I'm glad to see the IVF worked," Dave smiled.

"We knew it would," Harper offered.

"Yes, we did, but that doesn't mean that we aren't happy to know we were right," Emily said.

"That the circumstances were correct for Ilithyia to allow you to conceive ahead of schedule," Dave said.

"Not that far ahead in my case," Harper said smiling.

"So how far along are you?" Penelope asked.

"Just past the first trimester," Harper said.

"So far along?" JJ asked looking a little hurt

"We didn't mean to hurt anybody's feelings we just needed a little time to absorb the news that the process actually worked," Spencer explained. "We know that Graciela said it would, but still, we weren't completely sure if the circumstances were right."

"Now that we know it works, Brooke and Jeremy will be next as the house they bought is nearly done being renovated," Aaron said. "I suspect that Brooke will be pregnant sometime in the next few weeks."

"I think it's sensible that you're getting pregnant at least a few months apart," Penelope offered. "This way you're not likely to go into labor at the same time."

"Which is one of the reasons we did it, mom," Harper commented, as she ate her dinner. "Brooke isn't stupid and neither is Jeremy for that matter and they agreed to go second, because I reminded them they needed to find a house since the apartment they were living in is way too small for anyone, but the two of them. The three of us on the other hand, already had a nice big house that Aaron and I bought before we found Spencer. Brooke and Jeremy moving in with us temporarily was an option too, but I happened to remember that there was a house close to us that hadn't sold since it had been put up for sale. It was just what they wanted and it keeps my twin and Spencer's brother close by."

"Well, that was a fortunate circumstance," Dave smiled, as he ate the dinner he had prepared.

"It surely is, because that means our kids will be able to play together every day and neither one of us is going to have to go very far for that to happen," Harper commented. "It's not that I would mind driving a long way this just makes it easier that's all."

"Much easier than a long commute," Spencer agreed. "Besides, I like having my brother close by."

"Something I definitely agree with, except in my case it's my sister," Harper said smiling.

"I would definitely have liked having my brothers close by, when they were alive," Penelope commented. "They lived in Idaho and ran my parents farm."

"We would've had to be more careful though, as they didn't know our secret," JJ said taking sip of wine.

"I never told them, because I knew they would never accept that Dave technically, had two other wives and that I was okay with the arrangement," Penelope explained to Spencer who didn't know the full story. "If I had believed for a second that Andy and Darrin would have accepted all of us were in a relationship with one man than I would have told them, but I knew that they would have blown their tops quite literally, so it was better if we just kept the info to ourselves."

"It was long before it was legal to be married to more than one person," Dave told Spencer who nodded.

"In this century it doesn't matter if someone in a family disapproves of multiple marriages because they've been legal for quite sometime," Emily said smirking.

"Yes, but some people don't know how to stand their ground," JJ suggested. "They could be cut off from the family wealth if they don't do what the parents want. Some people just can't stand up to family pressure."

"Which is always sad when it happens, especially if they're truly in love with more than one person," Aaron said.

"Yeah, it always is," Dave agreed. "Of course, with Immortals that never happens. Immortals know better than to rail against Ilithyia, because they'll face the consequences if they do, as it is considered blasphemy. You don't want to know what happens to someone who blasphemed against the gods," Dave added looking at Spencer.

"I didn't used to believe that such gods existed, but I have to admit my opinion has changed considerably since I met these two," Spencer said.

"You'll find that a lot of mortals that were turned Immortal will tell you the same," Aaron said. "A lot of mortals, especially in the last few hundreds years or so, don't really believe in divine intervention. Of course, Immortals for the most part believe in the gods, because they've seen the gods working, even if it's very subtle."

"So you're planning on having more after this, right?" JJ asked, as she finished her breakfast.

"Of course, but not for awhile," Harper said. "According to the data that Aaron and I input into the computer both of us are just over 30 so I have plenty of time to space out as many children as we want."

"Changing your data is illegal, you know," Emily offered with a smirk to show that she didn't really mean what she said and that she was just teasing.

"Oh well," Harper shrugged. "I guess we're breaking the law then, as Immortals need to stay under the radar. It's actually a good thing that I had just changed our data only a few years before we met Spencer because he's pretty sure that his father did a background check."

"Trying to find a way to get me to stay away from them," Spencer offered. "I'm sure he was looking for something that would allow him to tell me honestly that they weren't good people. I would've known if he was lying, so he would've had to found something major and it would've had to be the truth, because I wouldn't have believed him otherwise considering our history."

"Yes, I see it was indeed a good thing that you changed on history, just like all Immortals do, even of that's though an intermediary," Penelope said with a devious smile, since she did the same thing for her family and also other Immortals. She had quite the business going.

"Yes, it was a good thing that Harper and I were cautious enough to at least change the dates on our history so that it was current and got rid of any time we were questioned by the police for something," Aaron offered. "We both had a very strong feeling that we needed to do so and while we weren't exactly sure why at the time we still did so."

"Now we know though, and that's because Ilithyia gave us a very strong feeling that we needed to. We don't necessarily have to understand at first why she was telling us to do something just so long as we do it," Harper said.

"We know now that it was a good thing we did so, even though it hadn't been so long ago that we had done a total revamp of our data," Aaron said.

"Yes, you should definitely always listen to any kind of strong gut feeling, as that's usually Ilithyia trying to warn you," Dave said.

"We made sure that there were at least minor infractions like minor traffic violations all paid up just so our record didn't look to clean," Aaron smirked. "A man like Spencer's father would've been very suspicious if that wasn't at least a few dents, though nothing major on our record."

"I have to agree that my father doesn't believe that anybody cannot have at least a few minor dents in their background. He doesn't believe that everybody doesn't break the law at some point in their lives, even if that's just a speeding ticket."

"That's a rather sad way to live," Dave commented and Spencer nodded in complete agreement.

"He thinks that everybody commits at least some kind of crime, even if they're never get caught at it and he's probably right, because a lot of people litter for example and often aren't caught, so it doesn't show up on any background check."

"Still, I don't believe anybody can think like that all the time," JJ said. "I know it's part of everyday life that humans, except maybe children, commit some kind of crime in their lives, even if that's a fairly minor offense, but most people don't think like your father does."

"It doesn't matter I don't intend to have much contact with him," Spencer shrugged. "Mom claims he's changed a lot realizes that he ruined his relationship not just with me, but with all his children, because of his dismissal of what I wanted and his trying to force me to become something I had no interest in being. My siblings are more than intelligent enough to know that what dad was trying to do to me was wrong and so came down on my side of the argument. I'm afraid that the relationship between my siblings and dad is rather strained. I know Whitney only has dinner with them once a week because of her children and not for herself."

"That is so sad, but unfortunately, it happens all the time," Penelope offered. "Our relationship has never been like that with Dave, but then I understand that the bond prevents that kind of thing."

"The bond assures that you don't make the same mistakes that your father has made Spencer," Dave explained. "It ensures that you treat your mates and your children with love. The bond is so strong that you just want to spoil your mate or in my case mates."

"Of course, it's not just a one-way street either," Emily said.

"I agree with all of that, because somebody telling me about the bond and what it means is one thing, but experiencing it for myself is quite another," Spencer agreed calmly kissing Harper on the cheek. "I know how I felt about Harper before I was turned Immortal and my feelings don't even compare to how I feel about her now. I know that if humans could feel like all Immortals feel for their mates there would be no divorce or at least a percentage of divorces would drop so far as to be negligible."

"And so would things like spousal abuse," Aaron offered. "No Immortal is going to abuse their mate in any way."

Everybody was silent as they finished their dinners, and thought about that revelation.

"It's really too bad that humans don't have bonds with their partners," Dave said. "I'll always be grateful that Ilithyia arranged it so Immortals would have somebody that would be with them all their existence. Somebody that wouldn't be tempted to cheat or even look at somebody else as a possible sexual partner. That's not to say that it doesn't take a lot of work to find your mate, because it certainly took a lot of effort to find JJ, though Penny kind of dropped into our laps."

Everybody smiled at the affection and love in Dave's voice. It was clear that Dave loved his three mates and that was the way it should be as the world would be in much better shape if such a thing was common and not just among Immortals.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant!" Brooke nearly shouted, as she entered the den where her sister and her mates were just sitting relaxing. Brooke's face nearly glowed with happiness.

It was only a few days after the dinner with Harper's family and to be truthful Brooke's twin had been expecting such an announcement any day, though she hadn't told the family that when she, Aaron and Spencer had dinner with them, because she felt that it wasn't her place and that Brooke should be the one to tell their parents and aunts the news.

"Congratulations sis," Harper said, as she rose and gave Brooke a warm hug.

"Thank you, it's a dream come true for me," Brooke said, grinning hugely.

"Congratulations from me too and I'll congratulate my brother is well when I see him," Spencer said, as he kissed Brooke on the cheek. "Where is Jeremy anyway?"

"He went into work," Brooke explained. "He offered to stay for my appointment with Graciela, but I said that he needed to go ahead into work. I know how much he loves going into the bookshop and this allowed me and Graciela to talk about things you can't say around a man."

Harper snorted at that, but also agreed.

"So Jeremy doesn't know yet," Aaron said speaking for the first time.

"Not for sure anyway, but there was also no reason for it not to work, because he did know there was nothing wrong with me being able to get pregnant and carry a child to term," Brooke said. "He was there when Graciela told me that, not that I expected any problems in that area, but since Immortals have had problems getting pregnant in the past it was possible."

"It has happened a few times," Aaron admitted. "Not very often, but enough that it was a genuine concern."

"So I'm assuming you are carrying twins just like I am?" Harper asked, as she patted her belly lovingly.

"Yep!" Brooke said with another wide grin.

"I'm very happy for you, Brooke," Aaron told her smiling. "I know you've been wanting a child for a long time.

"Yep! I have and I'm about to have two," Brooke said kissing her brother-in-law on the cheek, still grinning.

"So how far along are you?" Spencer asked curiously.

"Just a few days," Brooke said. "Graciela followed the same procedure that she did with Harper and checked to make sure that the samples had caught."

"So if you're only two or three days along it's still possible for one of the embryos to split," said Spencer thoughtfully.

"Another couple of days before that's not an option anymore," Brooke shrugged. "Maybe next time I can have Graciela deliberately implant three embryos instead of two."

"I don't think we need to worry about that quite yet," Harper said. "Let's get through these two pregnancies then we can worry about having triplets next time."

Brooke nodded and practically bounced into a very comfortable chair where she sat down laying sprawled with her legs over one arm.

"Don't you look all comfy?" Harper teased her sister.

"I am thanks," Brooke shot back grinning. "I can't wait to tell Jeremy when he comes home."

"He'll be just as excited as you are," Spencer said smiling.

"Yeah, he will," Brooke agreed. "I'm going to have a hard time waiting to tell him, but I also want to tell him face-to-face and not over a vid call. This is something I've dreamed about for years. Why do you think I spent so much time volunteering at daycare centers?"

"We knew that you really wanted children of your own," Aaron offered.

"We had already figured that's why you spent so much time volunteering at places where there were lots of young children, but soon you'll have twins of your own," Harper added.

"Something I'm definitely looking forward to," Brooke said with a massive grin.

"I definitely looked forward to my first children with Aaron," Harper said her eyes soft in remembrance. "I'm looking forward to my first children with Spencer now, but it's also rather routine, even if it's earlier than expected. Spencer is way more excited than I am probably because I've had plenty of children over the centuries."

"First children are always special or at least they should be," Brooke said repeating what her father had often said. "I know he treasured his first children from each of his mates, though that's not to say he didn't love all the children they had."

"Just that it became something of a routine," Spencer offered.

"Something like that, though that doesn't mean that the whole family didn't adore whatever children my mother or aunts had," Harper offered.

"Of course not, because if you love children and each one is special and unique, something that my father definitely didn't understand," Spencer said. "Not until it was too late to save his relationship with his oldest son at least."

Nothing was said for minute, but then the conversation resumed as if nobody had noticed the bitterness in Spencer's voice.

Harper said nothing but gave her mate's hand a gentle squeeze to let him know that she understood his bitterness, but said nothing in front of Brooke, though there would likely be a discussion after she had left.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"I don't really blame you for being bitter," Harper told Spencer, as soon as Brooke had left an hour later.

"Neither one of us does and its doubtful Brooke does either. Brooke might seem all innocent, but she's been around the block a few times, though she's never had her heart broken or had a father that cared more about his own ideas then his child's happiness," Aaron said.

"We've all met plenty of parents that seem to care more about their own self-interest then their children," Harper added

"I've been so happy the last few years I haven't really had any reason to be bitter," Spencer admitted after a minute. "Intellectually I understand that nobody is perfect whether mortal or Immortal, but in my heart..."

"You wonder why your father couldn't have loved you for yourself instead of for who he wanted you to be," Aaron finished quietly.

"Yeah," Spencer sighed.

"You have every right to these feelings, Spence," Harper said. "You know we don't like your father much, but I know you realize that your father is also human and humans have their own faults. A lot of children are not so lucky to have the support of their mother and the rest of their family. In your father's case he's just the odd one out, because he couldn't just accept his son as the precious, intelligent person that he was. It's your father that wrecked his relationship with his whole family, mostly because of the pressure he put on you to conform. I'm afraid that happens all the time though and as much as we may want to save such children from such a fate we have no right to interfere."

"None of us know where he got such strong opinions from, because according what you told us your grandmother wasn't like that and neither is your grandfather who is still alive," Aaron continued.

"It could've happened in a lot of ways," Harper added. "He could've overheard a conversation, as a cild and it affected him deeply for instance."

"I know, I've already thought of every single way possible that my father could have turned out like he did. I know there is no point of dwelling on it, because it's not like I can change the past. I accepted a long time ago that me and my father will never be close. I will probably never truly understand how he could have done what he did to his oldest child, not in my heart, but I also know it happens far too often," Spencer said.

"I think you will truly understand one day once you have more experience out in the world," Aaron said, as he flung an arm around his mate's shoulders affectionately giving them a little squeeze to let Spencer know that he understood. "You already have a lot of experience with the darker side of human emotions, but not as much as you will be getting over the next few centuries. Harper and I have seen every emotion you can possibly have displayed over the years and we've had a few bad experiences ourselves, ones that affected us deeply. Still, at least we had each other to help get through it."

"Yes, I know human beings just weren't programed not to hurt others, whether deliberately or unintentionally," Spencer sighed.

Spencer didn't bother to apologize for his rather melancholy mood because he knew that his mates understood that sometimes he just couldn't help letting his father's actions over the years affects, especially when he was brought up in a conversation, one he wasn't mentally prepared for.

Spencer was silent for a few more minutes then he deliberately turned away from the window he was staring out of. "I'm determined not to think about him. I know we agreed to let him see his grandchildren once they are born, so I might as well get used to the idea that I'm going to be in his presence far more often than I really want to be. I stopped going home for dinner years ago as you know, so I really don't run into him very much and really that's the way I'd like to keep it. Still, I won't deny my children a chance to get to know their grandfather so long as dad behaves himself."

"You know we all agree with you on that," Aaron said and Spencer nodded gratefully.

"Your father knows he made his own bed so he has to lie in it," Harper added. "He knows he's the one that wrecked his relationship with all his children to varying degrees. He might not have wrecked things with his other children as much as he did with you, but still, he knows that his children don't exactly have many warm feelings for him."

"Your father realizes that if you weren't so big hearted you could deny him a chance to get to know his grandchildren, so I doubt he'll make the same mistakes that he did with his own son," Aaron said. "It is often said that age brings wisdom and your mother says that he's finally realized his mistakes."  
"She knows him best," Spencer admitted.

"He's trying at least," Harper said. "He's trying to stay out of our lives."

"Now that's a switch," Spencer snorted cynically. "I'm actually surprised he finally realized the enormity of the damage he's done to his family life. Still, I have to admit I have appreciated the absence of pressure from him to conform into what he wanted me to be. Of course, it took until I was nearly 40 to leave me alone and let me live my life the way I choose, which doesn't point to him being very observant or very good at listening to others, since we all know my mother argued with him more then once over the years."

"Something you already knew," Aaron said and Spencer smiled a little in acknowledgment. "We all have experiences that make us rather bitter, but I think it's better to remember happier times, even if you didn't have many of those until recently. Unfortunately, life is full of bad, painful or sad experiences as well as good ones, as that's just the way that human beings are."

"You know that we don't like your father very much either, so it's best to mostly avoid him with the exception we will let him spend time with the children once they come," Harper said.

"Yeah, it won't be long," Spencer said finally grinning, his rather melancholy mood vanishing like the wind at the mention of his children that Harper was pregnant with now.

"No, it won't, as the next few months will pass way too fast and before we know it we'll have twins to look after," Harper said, placing a hand protectively on her belly. She was already visibly showing, but only if you looked under her clothes. It wouldn't stay that way for long, because she was carrying twins after all. Another few weeks and she would be showing above her clothes instead of just under them.

"It's good I have people around to distract me or I'd probably drive Harper crazy with my excitement of finally having a family of my own," Spencer said and his two mates were glad to see his rather melancholy mood disappear. It's not that they blamed him for his mood, everyone had things that upset them and Spencer's father was one of those things. After all they had learned about William Reid over the least few years it had left them, even more unimpressed then their original first impression had been and they hadn't had a good opinion of Spencer's father from the beginning.

"I wouldn't blame if you did," Harper said smiling kissing Spencer's cheek. "You never had children before after all and since you'd been wanting a family for years well you have every right to be happy and excited that you finally have that chance."

"Personally, I think that should be the reaction of any new parent, though I know it doesn't always happen," Aaron said. "All children are special as mortals or Immortals for that matter wouldn't continue if we didn't procreate."

"I don't think that's a problem," Spencer laughed. "Even if humans on Earth died for whatever reason there is always the ones on the moon and Mars and Alpha Centauri."

"Yes, the human race would live on," Harper said smiling.

The subject of Spencer's father was forgotten for the moment as the two talked about their children that were yet to be born, which all three were excited about.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	33. Chapter 33

Part 33

"Triplets? You're carrying triplets!" Harper asked her sister in astonishment.

Of all the things she had expected to hear from her sister this wasn't one of them. Brooke was taking advantage of the opportunity to have twins just like she'd done, but Harper had never expected one of her embryos to split to create fraternal triplets instead of fraternal twins. She had of course known it was a possibility, one that had already been discussed, but she had never believed it would happen to either her or her sister. It had been a possibility only. Still, apparently, she had just been proven wrong. Apparently, Ilithyia was feeling generous, as it never would've happened otherwise.

"Yep," Brooke chirped excitedly.

"Well congratulations," Aaron said smiling. "All of us are very happy for you, even if we're a little shocked."

"I was shocked too," Brooke admitted. "I've had a chance to absorb the news now though, as I learned about it a week ago at my appointment. Jeremy, as I'm sure you can guess was ecstatic when he heard. He expected twins, but not triplets."

"I would be ecstatic to," Spencer said coming forward to offer his own congratulations. "I'll congratulate my brother as well."

"You're just now telling us the good news?" Harper mock accused her sister, trying to look stern and failing.

"Jeremy and I just needed a little time to get over our shock," Brooke said unrepentantly.

"I can understand that," Spencer agreed. "It would've been a shock that you were having triplets for your first pregnancy ever."

"So why didn't Graciela I discover this before?" Aaron asked curiously.

"The third one probably hid behind their siblings," Spencer suggested. "It happens all the time in a multiple pregnancy, though it's not as often nowadays, that another baby isn't revealed due to the advances of technology."

He had read practically every pregnancy book ever published that was still in print, so he basically knew what was going on.

"That's exactly what happened at least according to Graciela," Brooke beamed happily.

"You're forgiven then," Harper said half seriously before congratulating her sister again.

"I never expected it," Brooke said. "I knew it could happen, I just never expected it too."

"You can't really expect something like that," Harper told her sister who was still beaming with joy. "Still, you should really count your blessings, because it's unlikely to happen again, not unless Ilithyia is feeling very generous a second time, because you now it was her that allowed one of the embryos to split, as it wouldn't have happened otherwise."

"I will," Brooke promised, cradling her belly protectively. "I've always known that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to have quite a few children as it will never happen again after this. I'm planning on taking advantage of it. I suspect after this I'll only be able to have one at a time."

"Probably, so I'm glad that you understand that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Aaron said smiling at his sister-in-law's enthusiasm.

"I do," Brooke told her brother-in-law. "I know it's unusual to have multiples for every pregnancy, but it's not that uncommon. I've heard of people that have three sets of twins in a row."

"Usually though it was done through IVF," Harper reminded her sister.

"That's true, but it has happened naturally a few times, so it is possible," Brooke said. "I doubt I'll have another set of triplets, but that means that I'll have seven children instead of six, which makes me very happy."

"You could try implanting three embryos next time," Spencer suggested.

"I think next time I'll go with twins as we wouldn't want to make Jeremy's father suspicious," Brooke said.

"No, we wouldn't," Spencer said. "He's been staying out of my life for the last few years and I'd like to continue that trend. Having twins is much more common than triplets or other multiples, but of course, they happen more often in this century due to peoples better diets along with other factors, which I won't bother to bore you with."

"Aaron, Spencer and I were discussing awhile back that we could probably use IVF six times since I have two mates instead of one like you do. If we do so though, we're going to have to only do singletons a few times as it would be too far out of the realm of reality if we did twins for every pregnancy," Harper told her sister.

"I hadn't thought of that, but you're right," Brooke admitted. "You should be able to do it double the amount of times then what Graciela recommended since you have more than one mate, without seeming too greedy."

"If we actually do go through all six times, plus the fact that Harper's due to get pregnant naturally soon we are going to have close to a dozen children," Aaron said smiling at the thought.

"Is there a problem with that?" Harper asked with an elegantly raised eyebrow at her mate. "This is my only opportunity to have as many children as I want to have at one time, so I'm not about to pass up my chance.

"No, I don't have a problem with it, even if it's not unusual to have some many children by one woman in this day and age," Aaron answered still smiling. "This isn't many centuries ago when women had a child every year because they died from so many diseases."

"Even if you only have one embryo implanted a few times, just so father won't get suspicious you're still going to have at least a dozen," Spencer said smiling at the thought. "Half of which will be mine."

"Wow! A dozen children," Brooke said a little enviously.

"You'll just have to be their Aunt Brooke and spoil them rotten," Harper suggested smiling. "I certainly intend to do so with your children once they're here. You know that's what we're going to think of each other's children anyway, so it will be like having a whole horde of them."

"That's true," Brooke said cheering up at that thought.

"With triplets you're going to likely go into labor early, at least a month and a half early, so you need to be careful," Spencer warned Brooke.

"Graciela already warned Jeremy and I of the possibility," Brooke said in reassurance. "She wants to do a C-section when I'm six weeks from giving birth, although she'd like to do it earlier. As for me I want to carry them as long as possible."

"She did explain that Immortal babies tend to be hardy things, right?" Harper told her sister. "Six weeks is really nothing, especially not in this age of technology. Your babies will be fine so long as the umbilical cord doesn't get wrapped around one of their necks."

"She did mention something about that yeah," Brooks admitted sheepishly.

"Don't worry so much, it's not like I at least don't understand your anxiety," Harper assured her sister. "You're just anxious that something will be wrong with the babies if you let them be born too soon, but Graciela never would have suggested a C-section at six weeks if they weren't going to be okay. You'll be lucky to carry them that long, especially since it's triplets. Graciela is kind of pushing it since triplets are usually born at least two months early."

"Put down your reaction to hormones," Spencer suggested with a little smile. "You're going to be a first-time mother, so of course, you're going to be a little anxious, probably, more anxious than for your other pregnancies."

"You just need a little experience that's all," Aaron said calmly. "Harper and I have plenty of that, considering we've had children before."

"So you're welcome to ask us for advice if you or Jeremy need it," Harper told her sister.

"I might need to," Brooke admitted.

"There's no shame in asking for advice from someone who's had children before," Spencer said

"Especially not when that person won't make fun of you for asking," Harper told her sister smiling a little. "Other women would be much better parents if they asked for advice from experts."

"Dave won't mind either if you want to ask him," Spencer suggested.

"That's true, dad, won't mind," Brooke said finally smiling.

"No, he won't and neither will I and I'm closer," Harper said smiling, as she imagined the five babies that were to come.

"It won't be long now," Brooke whispered, rubbing her tummy feeling a little anxious, as she could hardly wait for the babies to be here.

"No it won't," Harper agreed. "I'm due to go into labor any day now, which means you still have over a month to go and that's only because Graciela is going to have to do a C-section on you."

"Still, it's only a few more weeks, I can get through a few more weeks," Brooke said. "Hopefully, without worrying myself to death."

"Harper was like that the first time she got pregnant, even though we were expecting it," Aaron reminded his sister-in-law. "I think all mothers that love their children feel like that at least the first time.

"Yes, she was," Brooke smiled, as she remembered. "It took a lot to keep her calm."

"So it shouldn't be a surprise that you're experiencing the same feelings," Harper told her sister.

"I had forgotten how you reacted the first time you were pregnant until you reminded me," Brooke admitted. "It was a very long time ago after all."

"True, but I calmed down after that," Harper said.

"Yes, you did, a lot actually," Aaron said, as he kissed Harper on the forehead affectionately. "Now, it's simply routine, which doesn't mean that whatever children are born are any less special then our first, simply that we know what to expect. You weren't so anxious next time and by the the third time it was simply routine."

"I can't wait until I get to that stage," Brooke said.

"Neither can I," Spencer admitted, as he had been overjoyed, anxious and excited all at the same time since he had learned that his mate was pregnant, but still basically took it in stride, managing to control his feelings pretty well considering that this was the first time he was going to be a father.

"Both of you will soon be old hats at this pregnancy gig and then you can just be calm during the whole thing," said Harper.

"We'll see," Spencer replied kissing Harper on the cheek.

Harper could hardly wait for the birth of her twins and if she could hardly wait she knew that Brooke was even more anxious than she was, since her sister had never had children before, but she was sure that Brooke would be a great mother as they'd had three great examples of that all through their childhood. Of course, she was willing to help out her sister and Jeremy with any children they had, like by babysitting and she knew that they would do the same for her when necessary. That's what family was all about after all and that was to help when needed.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Aren't you adorable," Diana cooed to one of the newest additions to the family, a little girl with Jeremy's blonde hair, although it was just fluff at the moment.

Brooke had finally given birth just a few weeks after her sister and she was a very proud, if exhausted new mother, even though the operation had been short and sweet.

Harper's twins, a boy and a girl had been born only a few weeks before, so in this case Brooke's and her sister children were really close in age with only a few weeks between them, which was what both twins preferred.

"I guess we'll have to wait until Brooke is awake to hear what the names are going to be," Will said, as he held a cute little boy, the only boy of the bunch, because the two girls were identical twins.

"Sorry, but she made me promise I wouldn't tell you until she could participate," Jeremy said speaking for the first time. "Dr. DeWitt, said that they going to have to stay here for a week at least and maybe a little longer since they're six weeks early. She wants to make sure that there are no problems. She doesn't expect any, but it doesn't hurt to make sure."

"That's very wise," Diana approved. She had met Graciela on several occasions now and really liked her. She gave off an air of competence and kindness, which is what every professional should give off, but often didn't.

"She'll be awake tomorrow though and I'll call you as soon as she is so we can give you the names of these little darlings," Jeremy promised.

Spencer's attitude towards his father had thawed somewhat once he saw how he treated his son and daughter. There was still tension between them, but it wasn't as thick as it had been for years and Harper and Aaron had hope that Spencer and his father might actually start to get along better. There was unlikely to be a full reconciliation, but if anybody could bridge the gap of the indifference between father and son it was the babies that Harper had borne.

"Are you planning on having anymore?" Will asked suddenly. "Any of you?"

"Yes we are, though not for awhile of course," Harper replied and Spencer nodded.

"We already talked about this and next time it will be time for Aaron to have a child," Spencer informed his father.

"After that we'll see," Aaron said. "We probably will end up having more, but we're not sure right now. We have plenty of time to make a decision so why rush it along."

What Aaron had said was not exactly the truth as they had already decided to have more after the next time, but they didn't want the Senior Reid to know that right now, as he might pressure them and even if he didn't there was no point in discussing plans that was several years in the future.

"Brooke and I plan on having more in two or three years," Jeremy informed his father. "Of course, we don't expect such a miracle next time, not that either one of us would mind if it happened two times in a row."

"It's certainly possible," Spencer said. "Twins are quite common in this century and couples have been known to have sets of twins back to back, but as for triplets they are of course, not as common. It's still a possibility though, just not a likely one."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens," Diana said, already knowing that Brooke was planning on having the doctor implant two embryos again. She didn't plan on informing Will of that though, as he didn't need to know. She knew that Will would have a fit if he found out that both his son wives had used IVF to conceive. He would never understand why they'd needed to, so it was better if he never knew.

Will was smiling at the conversation knowing that he was going to get some more grandchildren in a few years. He had no intention of wrecking his relationship with his grandchildren the way he had done with his own. He had learned his lesson to late to ever be truly close to his oldest son, but at least Spencer hadn't forbidden him from even seeing his grandchildren. If his oldest son hadn't been so kindhearted he could see that as a route that Spencer might take, just to get revenge on him for the way he had been treated all throughout his childhood and most of his adulthood. Luckily, he wasn't a vengeful sort, which was no thanks to him, he knew.

As Diana had pointed out several years ago if Spencer had decided to become some sort of criminal because of his treatment he likely never would have been caught, because he was just too intelligent to be. While police officers and other law enforcement were not unintelligent most of them could not match his son. Someone as intelligent as his son wouldn't likely go into law enforcement not even the FBI or the CIA. He would likely be able to avoid the police or any other law enforcement agency for decades.

He really had shot himself in the foot, Will thought ruefully, as he held Jeremy's son in his arms. He could easily imagine Spencer committing all types of crimes, simply because he had been treated so badly as a child by his own father. He was very lucky his son wasn't the type to become a criminal, which he knew was more due to Diana then himself.

While things had thawed somewhat between him and Spencer, Will knew that they would never be very close, which he could admit had been due to his own actions, something he now deeply regretted, but what was done was done.

He knew he was on rather shaky ground, even if he and Spencer had reached an impasse when it came to his grandchildren. He knew one misstep and Spencer would forbid him from seeing the twins or any future children. He was determined to be around for his grandchildren unlike he had been for his own, as he knew Brooke and Jeremy would likely follow Spencer's lead if he did mess up in any major way and therefore, forbid him from seeing the triplets that his son's wife had just borne. He was going to have to be very careful and he knew it. He supposed it was what he deserved for how he had treated his own children, his oldest son in particular. He believed the term was karma, karma was coming back to bite him in the ass for the way he had treated his own children. What went around came around and he was receiving exactly what he deserved for not accepting his son for who he was.

For the moment there were no hard feelings between father and son, no anger, no arguments, no two strong willed men trying to get their own way as each one of the family just cuddled the precious little children that Brooke had just given birth too.

No, there was peace, happiness and contentment, so thick that it practically infused the room they were in and Spencer at least was satisfied at the way things between his father and himself were going. He hoped it would continue for a long time to come.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Epilogue

"Well, here we are," Spencer said looking around the entryway of the Rossis place in New York.

It had been past time for them to move elsewhere, as they had been in Las Vegas much longer than they should have been.

His parents-in-law place in New York had finally come free, as one of Harper's siblings and their family who had been living here had finally decided it was time to move on. According to Harper it had been way past time for her brother and his family to move elsewhere. The family had apparently been in New York for several decades before he had ever met Harper and Aaron and since he had been together with the Hotchners for over 70 years now it was definitely past time for both families to move on.

His mother had been very sad to see them go, but knew it was wise for them to do so, as his father had begun to notice that they still looked incredibly young. There were things they could have done to change their appearance, their faces at least, to where they looked more like their supposed age, but that was so much trouble that it was just easier to move. Despite being nearly 140 Diana Reid was still hale and hearty, though she had retired from teaching, long since. She could have continued teaching as she still had the energy of someone much younger, but she said she had plenty of money for her needs. His father and him still weren't very close but things had improved over the last few decades. He was the main reason they were leaving Las Vegas. His father had begun to question why all three of them still looked basically the same as they had when they first met and Harper, Aaron and he knew that this was dangerous.

Right now, William Reid was just curious, but that could change to suspicion in seconds. There were numerous ways to change your appearance nowadays, which was probably what his father had assumed they were doing to keep themselves looking young, but still, it was better to avoid suspicion, especially from a man who had never been told about Immortals and for good reason.

William Reid would have considered Aaron and Harper to be abominations or at least that would be his likely reaction. At the very least his father would have believed that he was being conned and done his best to break them up, to find some solid evidence that the Hotchners weren't exactly who they said they were. It wasn't that his father hadn't tried to break them up before, but his efforts would have doubled and he likely wouldn't've kept his mouth shut and informed the police. Even if that investigation came to nothing, it would have put more attention on the Hotchners and his relationship with them then was wise when Immortals tried to stay under the radar. Or they did if they were at all intelligent.

They lived quietly for a very good reason and that meant not drawing the attention of the police, though sometimes it couldn't be helped.

Still, Spencer was sure that his father realized that if he did go to the police with his suspicions the fact, that he had tried to break his son away from the Hotchners back when he had first met them, because he didn't approve of multiple marriages would come out and would tarnish his reputation.

The police would likely see him as a father who still didn't approve of his son's marriage to a woman who was already married to another man and suspicion would likely fall on him instead of Spencer and his family.

Still, it had been decided that it was time to move on, as they'd been here for 70 years and Harper and Aaron a little bit more then that, as it had been several years before they had met.

Spencer now knew that Harper had had a vision of meeting him, her last mate and where that would occur. When the place in New York had finally come free the three of them had snatched it up immediately, once Dave had offered to let them use it for as long as they wanted. Dave had known that it was time for his daughter and her mates to move on and while the Hotchners could have just bought a place, this was an offer to good to refuse. It helped that they had been wanting to see this place in New York that they had heard so much about, as even Harper or Brooke had never seen it before, just heard numerous stories. It was supposedly so large that Brooke and Jeremy were going to be joining them, as there was plenty of room. They were going to all live together for the first time since Brooke and Jeremy had met.

Brooke and Jeremy had agreed to this enthusiastically, because they'd all been with their partners long enough now that their bonds weren't so new or overwhelming. They all thought that living together was a good idea and if they couldn't manage to get along then one family would move elsewhere, though they were so close that it was unlikely.

"Yes, here we are," Harper said smiling. "Bernie said that he left the keys on top of the doorframe. Spencer you're the tallest so see if you can find them, will you?"

"Of course," Spencer said, as he walked forward a few steps and searched with one hand along the top of the doorframe, not even having to stand on his tippy toes to do so. Spencer was even taller then Aaron who was 6'2, but Spencer was 6'5', and while still skinny, he had more muscle on his frame then he had decades ago.

"Here, it is," Spencer said after only a few seconds of having been feeling around the top of the doorframe

Spencer produced a key and Harper took it from his hand. The key was electronic and there was a certain code that you had to use in order to get the door open and another code for the alarm. It wasn't impossible for a burglar to break in, but it was much harder. These high end places came with already excellent security and that didn't even include the things that Penelope, Harper's mother had added, so that it would be even harder for some burglar to break in.

Of course, now the alarm system was outdated so Harper needed to update as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Harper's brother Bernie didn't have the knack with security systems like her mother did and so had just bought a new alarm, while high tech and the best on the market at the time, still needed to be updated every few years to keep up with advances in technology.

"Let's go see, shall we? I hope Bernie at least cleaned up the place before he and his mate left."

"I'm pretty sure that Dave hired professional cleaners to make sure the place was sparkling, so it wouldn't matter if your brother and his mate left the place a mess, though it would've been very rude if they had done so," Aaron said.

"That sounds like, dad," Harper said smiling. "I know he would've changed the code immediately afterwards to prevent anybody from getting back in once they were done. I know he at least hired someone to check the place out to make sure it was ready for occupation and only then would he have hired a cleaning company of some sort, a bonded one to make sure they were honest. There won't be a thing missing or out of place or the company dad likely hired will answer for it and that would tarnish the company's reputation. I'm also pretty sure that dad has a lawyer firm on retainer and they would've taken care of any details for him."

"That's sounds like your dad," Spencer offered. "I know this is one of the few places they never sold, so it would make sense for them to have a lawyer firm on retainer to take care of anything that needed to be done, like regular maintenance."

"I think they kept at least another couple of places but this one, was never sold, because it was so nice and my family just loved living here. It has a special place in all their hearts, because this was the city where dad met my mother."

"Owning property is always a good investment," Aaron observed, even as the three of them ventured inside.

"Yes, it is and it's worth way more now than when they originally bought it," Spencer said, as he looked around the large living area. "I'm sure they could sell it for several billion if they wanted, as this is New York after all. Things are more expensive here and it was bought centuries ago, so of course the prices are going to go up in that amount of time, especially if it's been modernized anytime in the last few decades."

"I'm sure it has been, as dad is good with keeping up with stuff like that," Harper said.

"If it hasn't been, we can always modernize," Aaron said. "We are going to be here for the next few decades anyway so we might as well modernize if it needs it."

"Well, for now, I suggest we settle in, Brooke and Jeremy will be here in a few days," Harper suggested. "At the very least the mattresses in the bedrooms and maybe the entire beds need to be replaced I'm sure, though I suppose that one of dad's wives could have thought of that and already had it done or reminded dad to do it."

"I think your dad would've left that for us to decide," Aaron said. "We all have different taste after all. Even if the beds are new we'd still probably end up buying others, something your dad would have known. We can always donate the mattresses and bedframes to somewhere like Goodwill that will then donate them to a needy family."

"You're probably right," Harper decided. "That sounds more like my mom and aunts though rather then dad, telling him to let us buy new beds if we want. So long as the sheets are clean and at least one bed's already made with fresh sheets then I'm happy, as that means that we won't have to wash sheets or make a bed tonight."

"Always a bonus," Spencer said. "If your dad did have this place checked over, made sure it was ready to receive new occupants, I'm sure he took care of that little detail as he knew when we will planned to arrive."

"Everything looks good so far," Aaron said, as he looked around the large living area where there wasn't a speck of dirt or dust, which meant that it just been throughly cleaned sometime in the last few days. He wandered into the kitchen, which was right off the main living room and only had a bar, separating it.

"The kitchen is clean the dishes are sparkling, so yes, this place has definitely had some professional attention. It's possible that your brother and his mate cleaned out before they left, but I doubt very much they went to this amount of trouble. There's no way that one person could've cleaned this whole place from top to bottom in just a day or two unless they worked themselves into exhaustion. They could've started a week in advance, but since most men don't like to clean, it was probably done by professionals."

"Or Bernie could have bought a droid that cleaned everything before we got here. Just because my parents don't like them doesn't mean that they aren't useful occasionally or that any of their children share their opinion. Besides, we did have a cleaning droid, just not one that looked after any children, as even dad sees how useful they are. Come to think of it, we did have a nanny droid to, but it was only used if someone was in the house, but busy doing something else. I don't think it was ever used to look after me and Brooke if all the adults were gone."

"We have to remember that Dave and Emily at least would've been around when the technology was new and I'm sure it wasn't very reliable back then," Aaron said. "They likely would've seen what happened when one of them stopped working as one of them breaking down could be quite spectacular I'm sure. Any new technology is only perfected over time and I'm sure they saw or read about an accident where somebody got hurt, possibly even a child. Even though, the technology has been around for a long time and such things have been much improved, droids can still be reprogrammed if somebody breaks in, so I can't really blame your family for not leaving you alone with them. While it's not likely that somebody was going to break in considering your mother added bells and whistles to whatever security system they had at the time, it was still possible for somebody to circumvent it. It never happened, but again, you never know, so I can understand your parents reluctance to leave you alone with just a droid."

"I have to agree with Aaron on this one," Spencer ventured his own opinion. "Immortals are more aware of the dangers in the world then a lot of mortals. Just because your place is closed up like Fort Knox doesn't mean it's not possible for someone to get in. They could simply ring the doorbell and the claim to be a friend of your parents and a lot of children wouldn't realize that they weren't.

"Or claim to be delivering a package that somebody needed to sign for," Aaron added. "Just because most criminals don't go that route and try to get past whatever security there is, doesn't mean that they won't if they find that a place is impenetrable, and therefore, use stealth instead. This place would be a rich target for anybody. I'll actually be surprised if at least a couple of attempts haven't been made to get in here when nobodies living here at the time and probably more."

"If there has been nobody said anything about it, but I wouldn't be surprised either. If they set off the alarm the police would've been called and probably arrived in less then five minutes, certainly not enough time for someone to get past the security system. Dad makes sure to keep the security system updated every few years. Whoever tries to get in here would have to have a specialized remote, one made just for this system alone. This type of place would be too much trouble for most would-be thieves," Harper said.

"But not all of them," Spencer said and Harper nodded in agreement. "That nobody has actually broken in or even managed to get very far in doing so, is a likely testament to the fact, that your dad hired a good law firm to keep an eye on the place and that the police know their job."

"And if they don't I'm sure the law firm that my dad no doubt hired would quickly remind them," Harper smirked.

"Yeah, they will. Hiring a law firm to look after a valuable property is the only sensible thing to do when you aren't living there and if there is one thing I know about your father is that he's an intelligent individual, so would know that. I'm sure your father informed them that some more of his family was moving in again, since really the only way to keep an eye on a place is to have someone living there or at least checking up on it regularly. I doubt this place has been empty for more than a year or two at a time, since your parent's moved out," Spencer said.

"It probably hasn't," Harper agreed. "If it ever has been empty then I'm sure dad had whatever firm he hired a check on the place on a regular basis, just like you suggested."

"I have to agree that's it's something your father would do, though we might want ask him about that, just in case somebody from the firm your my dad hired comes calling. We don't want to be caught by surprise after all. I suspect somebody will probably be here in a few days to make sure we've settled in alright and that everything is as it should be, as your dad would pay them enough to do so and for their discretion," Spencer mentioned.

"Old-fashioned courtesies are so rare today," Aaron said.

"Yes, they are," Harper agreed. "Still, my dad would only have hired the best, so it would be part of their services to make sure the right people moved in and to make sure everything had been done. The law firm probably even stocked the fridge and pantry so we won't have to worry about that for awhile, unless Bernie or his mate did it before they left."

"I'll check on that," Spencer offered. "If they didn't we'll need to go grocery shopping sometime in the next day or two."

Spencer headed to the kitchen to check what kind of supplies they had. Minutes later he came back and reported, "The fridge and pantry are fully stocked, whether the law firm or your brother did it I have no idea."

"Could've been either one," Harper said. "I'm sure dad instructed one or the other to do it, so we wouldn't have to worry about it for a few days anyway. He's really good about things like that."

"There's probably enough perishables to last us for several months, though we will have to buy fresh food more often. Still, there's enough to last us for at least a couple of weeks and it won't spoil before then, because if I'm not mistaken there is a new refrigerator unit in the kitchen."

"The kind where food doesn't spoil as quickly, because of the improved technology. I'm not really sure about how they did that," Aaron said.

"It doesn't matter," Harper said. "It means that any fresh food we put in it will last much longer then with the old units. It's just like when the communicators replaced vidphones and vidphones replaced the old telephones. The only reason I know about them is because I enjoy learning things like that, even if telephones and cell phones are long in the past. Besides, both dad and my Aunt Emily remember when phones were around. You can learn a lot just from them if you just listen."

"So long as it works," Spencer said cheerfully.

"Dad never would've skimped if it was him that replaced the fridge or I suppose it's more likely Bernie that did that, maybe even at the request of dad."

"Well, whoever it was, it was very nice for them to do so," Aaron said. "Let's go see the rest of the place and make sure the bed in the master bedroom at least has clean sheets. If it does then we can check out one of the larger bedrooms and make sure they have clean sheets for when Brooke and her mate arrives."

"I think it'll be rather nice living together, for once instead of separately, even if we have always lived close to each other," Harper said.

"Well, from what I've seen so far this place is certainly big enough to handle more than just the three of us. I think half a dozen families could live here quite comfortably, with or without children."

"Yes, it is. I think we'll be happy here for many years," Aaron said.

"Let's go check out the rest of this place so we can be honest with whoever comes by from the law firm," Harper suggested. "Then I think a hot bath for all of us, because this place should have several jet tubs if I'm remembering what I was told and I'm sure dad had them updated sometime recently. We can wash the sweat of travel off us and then have an early night."

"Sounds good to me," Spencer said grinning, knowing that they'd probably make love before they went to sleep. Something that all of them enjoyed immensely, even after all this time.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	34. Chapter 34

Part 34

"It's time to get up you lazy bones," Harper said cheerfully to her two mates. "You know that Jeremy and Brooke will be here in just a few hours. You don't still want to be in bed when they get here do you?"

When neither of her mates moved fast enough she poked them, and then finally ordered them firmly, "Up you two! Breakfast will be ready in half an hour and I expect you both to be down by then."

"Yes, ma'am," both Aaron and Spencer answered at the same time, blinking at her sleepily.

"Good, I'll expect you down in half an hour then, so you better get a move on if you want showers."

"You can use the shower in here and I'll take mine in one of the other bedrooms and that way we'll be done sooner," Spencer offered.

"No that's okay, I won't be long," Aaron said. "I'll be done in 10 minutes. Of course if you want to get your shower and one of the other suites, then it's okay with me, but you'd have to move all your bath things and that seems like a lot of trouble just to take a shower and get dressed one morning."

"A point," Spencer acknowledged. "I'll wait out here then."

Aaron headed for the shower with his clothes and it wasn't long before Spencer heard the shower running. It was less then 10 minutes later by Spencer's estimation that the shower cut off.

The bathroom door opened minutes later letting out a billow of steam and Aaron came out dressed, very fashionably in slacks and an open collared shirt. He wasn't wearing any shoes but his slippers were by the bed, placed there the night before. None of the three saw a point of wearing shoes around the house and probably would've stayed in their nightclothes if Jeremy and Brooke weren't arriving.

"It's all yours," Aaron said and Spencer nodded already having gotten undressed. It wasn't like Spencer was shy about being naked around one of his mates as they'd been best friends and brothers for long time now. Any shyness he'd happened to have had vanished long since. He was actually proud of his body. He was still skinny but he knew that's just the way his body was made and that he would never get fat. He had started lifting weights shortly after he and Harper had married so that he had muscles in his arms. He had also taken up running, so he had muscles in his legs as well. He also dressed in the height of fashion as Harper would never let him go around in anything that was too out of date. She wanted him to look like the handsome young man he was instead of him trying to not be noticed by the opposite sex. She had pointed out quite logically that he was off the market now, so no matter what other females wanted they wouldn't get it. He didn't get bothered by the opposite sex as much as Aaron did, but it did happen, because of his new confident attitude and also the way he dressed in the height of fashion

"I'll be out in a few minutes," Spencer promised going into the bathroom.

Spencer was out in just a few minutes and started getting dressed after he had dried himself in the drying tube, which was fast and efficient and had him dried off in seconds.

"We had better head downstairs now," Spencer said, as soon as he had put on his slippers.

"We still have a few minutes, but let's not be late," Aaron said calmly

The two of them headed downstairs and immediately for the kitchen.

"Well, you two are even a few minutes early," Harper said looking at her watch. "Considering how sleepy you still were when I finally came to get you that's pretty good."

"I suppose the preparations for moving and everything tired us out more than we thought," Spencer offered. "I mean there were just so many things to do in a short amount of time. We needed to get away from Las Vegas as soon as we could."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Harper agreed. "It'll take us a few days to catch up on our sleep."

"I know Spencer at least hated to leave Las Vegas with his mother still in good health," Aaron said. "We stayed longer then was wise, mostly because of his mother."

"Yeah, we probably did," Spencer sighed. "I just hated to leave my family, not my father so much, but my mother and my siblings."

"We do understand, sweetie," Harper said, as she stopped cooking long enough to kiss cheek. "We all agreed to stay longer then as Aaron said was wise. Still, we're here now and your father's memories of how we looked will fade after a few years."

"He wasn't suspicious yet, but he sure did start asking a lot of questions," Aaron said, "just the kind of thing we try to avoid, especially for those people we see fairly often. There was no more reason to stick around since our children are long since grown."

"Yeah, we should have left a few years after our children graduated college. We could've said we were go to do some traveling or something and just moved elsewhere," Spencer said.

"Still, we understood why you wanted to stick around your old hometown," Harper said.

"Even if your father hadn't started to ask questions about why we all looked the same as we had when we first met, we still would've had to move sometime soon," Aaron said.

"I know and mom understood. She knew we should've moved at least a decade before we did, probably two decades."

"Yeah, we should have as soon as our kids were out of college," Harper said smiling, as she thought of the 14 children that she had with both Aaron and Spencer. She'd had four singletons on purpose and the rest had been twins. She and her mates had decided to throw some singletons in there, so that Spencer's dad wouldn't be suspicious or anybody else, if they happened to see us and all the kids together. It had mostly been Spencer's father that they had been concerned about, since they'd spent a lot of time around him. They saw him at least once a week. William Reid might not know anything about babies or childbirth, but even he would likely be suspicious if they had too many sets of twins. Still, they had five sets of twins with four singletons thrown in and really five sets wasn't suspicious at all as it had happened in the past. Brooke and Jeremy had done the same though only once, as they thought it wise.

Both Aaron and Spencer had had seven children apiece, as they had all agreed that it was only fair to have the same number for each of them. Spencer remembered that his mother had definitely approved of their cooperation and loved her grandchildren to death. The one time she had gotten pregnant naturally, with no use of IVF, because it was just that time, one baby had turned out to be Aaron's and the other Spencer's, which had been surprising, but still feasible, as it did happen sometimes.

"Well, it's over now and we'll never see William Reid again," Aaron said.

"He likely won't live more then another decade or two as his health isn't exactly good," said Spencer. "While mom on the other hand, is in the best of health, especially for her age."

"I think if you lived poorly that it comes back and bites you," Harper suggested. "You need to take joy in living and your father just doesn't. I really believe that the way you live your life has a lot to do with how long you live. Your mother tried her best to support all her children and did what a mother should. She lived her life with honesty and integrity. She's just a kind, loving, compassionate person while your father definitely is not. She eats things that are good for her, which only improve her health or at least help maintain it. Your father on the other hand, is a totally different matter. He is disagreeable, demanding, argumentative, pushy, determined to get his way and tried his best to push you into a career that you didn't want for yourself. He's also stubborn in ways that aren't good for his relationships and so his relationship with all his children, but especially his oldest son has been on the rocks ever since you were a child. He's also as unobservant as you can get, because if he had noticed how miserable he made you then that might've made him pause and maybe your relationship wouldn't be so..."

"Tentative," Aaron suggested

"Lacking," Spencer added. "I've always known that deep down dad loves me, but he also got the Reid stubbornness and that's not necessarily a good thing at all. It all depends on how that stubbornness is used."

"And your father used that stubbornness in the wrong way to try to force you into a career you didn't want for yourself and would have only made you miserable," Harper said.

"And when you didn't comply with his wishes he basically ignored you, so you didn't exist for him anymore," Aaron said.

"More or less. So you think basically, karma is coming back to bite him for the way he lived his life..." Spencer started.

"...Which means that he'll be dead much sooner," Aaron finished.

"That's not the whole equation I know, as there can be other things that make you die sooner then you should, but in this day and age with all the advancements in medical technology, they can do a lot to extend your life. Your parents are only around 140 and really, that's not too bad for mortals, even if they can live to 250 nowadays."

"Diet and exercise combined with how you live your life and how much stress you have in your life has a lot to do with how long you live," Spencer said. "I know my father never exercises and his diet last I knew wasn't very good either."

"It could simply be karma, paying you back for your general attitude throughout life, though of course, those things you mentioned about diet and exercise have a lot to do with how long you live as well or at least they do if you're not immortal," Aaron suggested. "If anybody believed in something like karma it should be Immortals for we are the ones more likely to see people getting paid back for the lives they live. If you've lived a wholesome life then you're more likely to live longer. People with less stress tend to live everyone of their years, not that that doesn't preclude a serious accident or murder, but you understand what I mean."

"Of course we do," Spencer said. "I certainly know how you both think by now, since we've been together for so long. Harper and you have known each other even longer than I have so she ought to be able to know what you're saying without you having to translate."

"Yeah, people often comment about how we're like triplets, because we know each other so well," Harper commented smiling.

"There is a reason we know each other so well," Aaron said with a smirk.

"Yeah, there is, but mortals would never believe the real reason," Spencer said smiling. "If we told them how old we all really were they'd probably faint right in front of us, then call us liars after they regained consciousness. Hell, I don't even look my years and if Aaron for example told someone how old he really was then they'd think he was crazy."

"Most people would," Harper said chuckling.

"I'm the baby of the three of us, though I would be an old man by now if not for the Immortality," Spencer said.

"You sure do look young for someone who's over a hundred," Harper teased him.

"I know I do and that's all thanks to you two," Spencer counted smiling. "I will never develop gray hairs or wrinkles."

"You probably wouldn't have developed wrinkles anyway as you still looked incredibly young, even though you were thirty-five when we met. Really, you didn't look anymore than in your late 20s," Aaron said.

"Yeah, I know some people often commented on it when they heard my real age. They said I must be living my life right to look so young," Spencer remembered. "People who are happy with their life often don't look their age, because they've been so content. A lot of them seemed rather envious."

"I'm not surprised," Harper said. "To look like you're barely in your middle 20s when you're nearly 10 years older would be a great gift to any woman. A lot of women use numerous products to keep looking young when they're getting old or they have plastic surgery if they can afford to. Some people have so much plastic surgery that they can't move their mouths or some other part of their faces, due to to many surgeries. There is such a thing as going overboard."

"Yeah, there is, but some people want to keep looking young so bad that they just get obsessed," Spencer said.

"We don't need to worry about that," Aaron said.

"Nor does any Immortal," Harper added, kissing both her mates on the cheek. "Well, breakfast is served gentleman. Spencer you were right both the pantry and the fridge are well stocked. We won't have to go out for supplies for quite awhile, which will give us a chance to settle in."

"And that's only if we don't eat out every day or at least every a few days," Aaron said. "If we do it will last longer."

"I think going out to eat can wait until Jeremy and Brooke are up to it, which will be at least a day, maybe two," Harper said. "If they don't want to join us fine, but it's only polite to ask. I've never been to New York, so I'm looking forward to exploring some."

"I have for my business," Spencer said, "but not for years. Not since I joined the two of you actually. I had my second-in-command take care of most things and only put in an appearance when I had to, especially after I had children. I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible."

"I have been too, long before I met Harper, so it's been centuries for me," Aaron commented.

"Well, your second-in-command has been doing very well, but he's going to want to retire someday," Harper commented.

"I know, believe me I do, as he's just as old as I am," Spencer said. "I kept up with everything and my second-in-command has sent me reports every few days for decades, but I suspect it won't be more than a few years before he wants to retire, as like me, he's over a hundred now and unless he's been extremely foolhardy has more than enough to live on for the rest of his life. I've kept enough of my hand in that there was never any danger of a takeover or of somebody embezzling some of my company's money. I own 51% and therefore, controlling interest, so a takeover wouldn't have been possible anyway, but somebody embezzling money certainly was."

"Neither one of us can blame you for wanting to spend time with us and the children," said Harper, as she placed a large plate of food before him.

"You'd spent so long looking for happiness that was just around the corner. We know that you had no way of knowing that you had a mate out there, since you weren't Immortal like Harper and I were," Aaron said.

"Which means that we understand your decision to only going into work when you had to and left it mostly to the person you put in charge. What was his name? Something that started with a G."

"Gary has done well and that's what matters," Spencer said, by way of answer. "Besides I really couldn't keep appearing at work as young as I still look as people would have been curious at least, if not suspicious. I would've had to go to the trouble of putting gray in my hair, and moving more slowly the older I got, though maybe I wouldn't have had to go that far, as I could've told anyone that it was just a good diet and exercise program, so that was why I moved like a much younger person."

"Still, you would've had to do things that are just a pain to do on a normal basis," Harper said. "Some people never get gray or white in their hair, but there would have to be some signs of aging."

"Yes, there would have to be, whether that was me moving more slowly, my hair slowly turning white or some other signs of aging, lines in the face or the hands changing with age," Spencer said. "I could've continued going in probably, for at least another 10 years or so, but after that people would've begun to notice that I wasn't aging. A lot of people wouldn't have noticed or wouldn't have cared one way or the other, but all it takes is one person to be curious and start asking questions."

"Yeah, all it takes is one person noticing that you still look just as young as you always have," Aaron said. "That's why both Harper and I understand one of your major reasons for not going into work after awhile."

"It was something I realized not long after I got together with you two, so I moved to the background and I let Gary take over. Gary hasn't actually seen my face in years, but knows that I'm still giving him commands as we have a code word to make sure it really is me giving him instructions. If I ever start up another business and people ask why I look so young I'm just going to tell them I had plastic surgery or something. Still, Gary has done well and that's all that matters."

"You know I never thought of that and I should have," Aaron realized.

"You likely would have, if I hadn't realized and taken steps soon after we married," Spencer said. "I think you subconsciously knew you didn't have to worry about it, because it had already been taken care of, so you could concentrate on more important things."

"That's possible," Aaron decided.

"Of course it is, because you subconsciously knew that Spencer had already taken care of a possible problem, so your brain just didn't go in that direction," Harper said. "I did think of it briefly, but once I saw Spencer had it under control I knew I didn't need to interfere, so just forgot about it."

"So are you going to have any children this time around? It is getting to be around that time you know," Spencer said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Of course we are," Harper said. "I should have at least three and it'll probably be twins for both of you, instead of just Aaron, which means four.

"We'll have to see," Spencer murmured.

"It does make good logical sense," Aaron said. "As you know, Harper's always had twins when it was just me and her. I don't see it being any different with you, but you're right, we'll just have to wait and see."

"I sure do miss the kids," Harper sighed. "It's been just over 50 years since they left the house to go to college. They certainly didn't spend much time at home once they left."

"We did see them, even if it wasn't as much as we would have liked," Spencer said.

"We sometime joined them for at least a few weeks of their summer vacation," Aaron remembered. "We had to remember though, that they were basically grown up."

"I think I missed them more, simply because they were the first children I ever had," said Spencer looking a little melancholy.

"It'll be the same to a certain extent when we have more," Harper offered. "Your feelings probably won't be as intense as they were the first time though. Aaron and I were just as sad and melancholy as you were the first time our kids left home. While they visited and everything, they were basically grown up and out of our lives. We still saw them some but they were free to do whatever they wanted due to the money that we gave them," Harper said.

"Unfortunately, children don't stay children forever," Aaron said and the other two nodded sadly in agreement

"Still, they're good kids," Harper said, "and we do keep in contact."

"I know that's all we can really expect, just to see them on rare occasions," Spencer said.

"I'm afraid that's just the way it is with most children who grow up on you," Aaron said. "They know they can contact us if they have any problems they can't handle, but we also made sure they were capable of handling most situations on their own."

"Let's talk about something more cheerful," Harper suggested. "Aaron and I have been having our children grow up on us for centuries, but we have no choice in that and you just got added to the mix Spencer."

"We do the best we can distract ourselves until these melancholy feelings pass," Aaron told Spencer.

"Yeah, I remember what we did once the kids were permanently out of the house," Spencer smiled. "We took a very long vacation and rented our own private beach where we had sex like crazed monkeys for several days."

"That certainly helped us forget about the kids," Harper chuckled.

"Yeah, that was a good way to help us forget about the fact that the kids were, while not permanently out of our lives, were all grown up so we wouldn't see them as much," Aaron said grinning, as he remembered that vacation so long ago. It had been one of the best vacations ever, as they'd had sex nearly constantly. "We all have these feelings from time to time, Spence. We've had several times in the last few decades where we really miss our kids, but as you know, it'll pass once we find a way to distract ourselves."

"I know," Spencer said. "It helps that I know I'm going to have more, which will help me not dwell on those that have their own lives. The two of you experiencing the same feelings of loss also help immensely. I know some parents are just glad to get rid of their kids once they hit 18, but certainly not any of us."

"No, most Immortals really miss their kids, probably 99% of them," Harper said. "Unfortunately, it's just a fact of life, as we couldn't keep them children forever, even if we might want to."

"These feelings will pass, just like they always do, though they do tend to hit unexpectedly from time to time," Spencer said.

"Empty nest syndrome," Harper said. "Aaron and I have experienced this again and again, whenever our kids have moved out."

"While I've only experienced it a few times after the children were out of the house," said Spencer.

"It happens to parents who are really close to their kids, though not to those who are just glad that they're gone or don't have a close relationship with them for whatever reason," said Aaron.

"I just never imagined, until I met to you that I would never have a chance to be a father," Spencer tried to explain his feelings of sadness. "Even over 50 years later I still miss all 14 of those kids, though I don't usually dwell on it, as you know."

"We know," Harper said giving him a hug.

"You know we feel exactly the same," Aaron added, placing a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder. Aaron and Spencer had gotten quite close over the last 70 some years, which really wasn't surprising.

"I'll put the dishes in the dishwasher," Spencer offered his sadness passing. It helped immensely to have two people that understood how you felt, because they felt the same. "It won't take me but a few minutes."

"We'll wait for you in the living area," Aaron said.

"Let's pick a movie and watch it," Harper added and Spencer nodded at this. "We can institute a movie night, even though we might not necessarily watch it in the evening."

"That sounds like a good idea," Aaron agreed.

"It's no different from what we did in Las Vegas, but yeah, sounds good," Spencer said feeling more cheerful by the second. He treasured those times, because of their simplicity. Usually, it was just the three of them, though occasionally, Jeremy and Brooke had joined them.

It was simply a time for the three of them to cuddle close with Harper in the middle of them and they usually just necked during the movie instead of actually watching the screen, though occasionally they did actually watch the movie.

"It was certainly a good way to start off their lives in their new home. They didn't even have to pay rent, because Dave would never charge his family for living in a place that was already paid for. It's not like Harper's family needed the money.

Still, it was a nice gesture on Dave's part, but then he was a very nice person, so it wasn't surprising.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"Welcome, welcome," Harper greeted her sister and her husband. She kissed both of them on the cheek and gave them hugs.

"We are glad to be here," Brooke said looking around the entryway, that led into the living area.

"Just choose any bedroom you want to, except the master as the three of us have taken over that one," Harper said. "There are plenty of other large bedrooms for you to choose from, ones with bathrooms.

"Neither of us is surprised if you took the master as I'm sure it has the largest bed and there are three of you. After all, that's where our parents slept when they were living here."

"Actually, I'm sure there's been several different beds in there over the years. We probably need to go bed shopping, but we were all waiting for you guys to arrive. That is one thing that dad left us to do, since we all have different ideas of style."

"So he did basically everything else?" Jeremy asked.

"Had the lawyer he has on retainer contact the cleaning company to clean the place from top to bottom, had them or our brother stock the pantry. I'm not sure which did that particular task. There are enough supplies to last us for several weeks, before we'll need to go shopping again at least for the fresh food. There are enough perishables to last for quite awhile, since I'm sure we won't eat every meal at home. There's a new fridge in the kitchen, one that's much more efficient in keeping fresh stuff from spoiling."

"Well, it really sounds like dad went all out," Brooke

"The AutoChefs are also fully stocked, with our favorite kind of snack foods. It also looks like the pots and pans and other cooking utensils have been updated," Harper reported.

"The AutoChefs are definitely a newer feature, at least from what I understand from mom's and dad's stories," Brooke said appreciatively.

"Either Bernie had them put in or one of the other members of the family that lived here before did, since they've been around for a long time," Aaron suggested.

"Perhaps dad had them installed once he was sure they were reliable," Brooke said.

"If he did then mom and our aunts probably suggested it. I doubt it's a thing that dad would have thought of because he likes to cook too much," Harper said.

"Probably," Brooke agreed. "We like to cook too, but occasionally, it'd be nice just to get something out of the AutoChef."

"Especially if you're in the middle of a movie marathon and you don't want to go to the trouble of preparing the snack food by hand," Jeremy grinned.

"Or are feeling lazy," Harper added.

"A very good point," Spencer said, as he came into the living area to slap his brother on the back and to hug Brooke, "though you could do that before the marathon even starts."

"I wondered where you were big brother," Jeremy teased him.

"Around," Spencer answered. "It's good to have you two here. I know we have always lived close to each other, but never actually together, so this will be a rather nice change."

"We'll just make sure to stay out of each other's way when we want privacy," Aaron mentioned chuckling.

"There's plenty of places when we can have some privacy right here in this building," Harper mentioned. "There are several terraces for example where each of us can have dinner if we want privacy. There is a terrace in the master bedroom, that looks out over the city."

"I want one of the bedrooms with a terrace," Brooke said immediately. "It'll be nice to watch the sunset at least."

Brooke still liked to sleep as late as possible and was very hard to wake up, though Jeremy had managed it a time or two or...three...

"It's okay with me," Jeremy agreed kissing his mate on the cheek.

"The bedrooms themselves, are also very private," Spencer said. "Close the door and you won't hear a thing as the soundproofing is excellent. Of course, I really wouldn't expect anything else considering how long I've known David Rossi."

"No, dad is always very thorough and looks after the little details," Brooke agreed.

"Yeah, he does and the only reason he didn't replace the beds is I'm sure mom and aunts JJ and Emily advised him to let us choose our own. Everybody has different tastes after all," Harper agreed.

"So long as there is a flat comfortable surface for us to sleep on tonight, then we can worry about bed shopping tomorrow or the next day," Brooke said.

"Yeah, you probably need a day or two to recover from moving, which is always a hassle, even if you hire someone professional to do it," Aaron agreed. "The three of us certainly did."

"So Jeremy how did dad react when he learned that you two, were moving?" Spencer asked.

"We told him basically the same thing that you told him and that is that we'd be traveling for awhile. I'm sure he's rather suspicious that both of us are suddenly going to be traveling, something we should have done after our youngest kids graduated college."

"Yeah, it is," Harper said. "We spent quite a few nights discussing what should be done, even before the Senior Reid started asking so many questions."

"We knew this day was coming and would eventually," Brooke said. "We stayed in Las Vegas much longer than we usually stay anyplace."

"Yeah we did," Aaron said. "We are all aware of why we did though."

"Mom," Spencer said with a rather upset expression.

"Yeah mom, also our siblings and nieces and nephews," Jeremy added.

"Well, if dad had only kept his curiosity to himself we probably could've stayed there for another couple of decades," Spencer said.

"We probably could have, but that wouldn't have been wise and you know it Spence," said Harper gently shaking her head placing a gentle hand on his forearm. Spencer looked at Harper with such an intense expression that it made Harper want to take her mate right up to their bedroom and have her way with him. She continued what she was saying regardless of her feelings knowing that she would have a chance to release her sudden intense desire that night. "Just because we lived in a neighborhood where the people minded their own business doesn't mean that someone wouldn't have noticed our still young appearance and been curious enough to stick their noses in."

"There are numerous ways to change your appearance nowadays though, plastic surgery only being one of them," Jeremy said.

"That's true and people probably would've believed the explanation of plastic surgery, except for those we were close to or at least saw us on a regular basis," Spencer agreed.

"Which was basically just our family mom and my siblings and possibly some of our nieces and nephews," Jeremy agreed.

"Which are legion," Brooke chuckled.

"Well, when your parents have eight kids, in which they all eventually marry and have numerous children apiece. Those children of course eventually grow up and have families of their own so the cycle continues. I don't think it really is any wonder we have practically an army of nieces and nephews, is it?" Jeremy said, grinning adorably.

"Even if some of them are great nieces and nephews or great-great," Spencer added chuckling a little.

"No, it's not really any surprise," Harper agreed. "Not many families are so large but since humans live longer nowadays families tend to be bigger. At least the parents are probably around to see their grandchildren and great-grandchildren, even their great-great-grandchildren grow up and get married and possibly have families of their own."

"And even their great-great-great-grandchildren," Aaron said.

"Our family hasn't gone that far quite yet, but they will," Jeremy chuckled.

"Now though, why don't you show us the bedrooms, so we can choose one and get settled in,"

"I'll do that if you like," Harper offered, "and you boys can just stay down here and keep yourselves occupied."

"We don't mind helping," Aaron said and Spencer nodded in agreement. "Most of our stuff won't be here for another few days, so it's not like any of us have much to unpack at the moment."

"Alright then," Harper said calmly already knowing that would likely be her mates response.

"You can even get settled in on the other side of the building and on a different floor though you're not going to be able to hear anything with the excellent soundproofing already in place, even if you decide to live on the same floor as we do," Spencer said.

"Still, that would give us each our own private spaces, somewhere to go when we wanted to be alone, but don't want to actually go anywhere," Brooke said liking the idea. "We are due to have children, even if Jeremy and I will only have one or possibly two, if we happen to have twins."

"You do know the chances of that happening nearly 0, right?" Harper asked Brooke in concern.

"Of course I know, but I can't help but hope I'll have at least two," Brooke said.

Harper nodded at this, as there was nothing wrong with hoping you would have more than one. It wasn't likely to happen unless the goddess was feeling generous, but still, it was possible. So long as Brooke understood that it wasn't very likely then her sister would be okay.

"I'm going to miss the days where we had multiple children to look after, ones that are actually ours," Jeremy said.

"I know you are, but you can always babysit, as I should have at least one set of twins since that's the way it's always been and really I should have two sets, as I don't see Spencer being any different when he gets me pregnant."

Spencer blushed a little at this, but he said nothing

"You were aware at the time that it was a one time deal, to stop your family from getting suspicious, mostly your father," Aaron added.

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to miss having multiple children running around. Helping look after yours though, when you want some privacy, will help both Brooke and I get over our mood," Jeremy explained.

"By the way, I agree, that you should have two sets of twins, instead of twins and a singleton," Brooke told her sister. "You've always had twins before with Aaron, so why should Spencer be any different? After all, he's your mate too. You'll get to see if you're right soon."

"That's what I'm hoping," Harper said. "But we also have to remember that only our mother had twins and not Aunts JJ or Emily, so it's quite possible that Spencer and I will only have one and you know it won't matter that he also has twins that run in his family as well as our own."

"I hadn't thought of that," Brooke said quietly.

"I had," Spencer said quietly. "I know it's possible that Harper and I will only have one, but on the other hand we'll have three altogether, which is more than most Immortals have at one time, so I'll consider myself lucky. I knew very well that when we used IVF to avoid mostly dad's rather suspicious nature that it was a one time deal, to have as many kids as we wanted. I've accepted the fact that I'll only have one, possibly two kids from now on. As much as I want more, I also know that I've been incredibly lucky with the happiness I have gained. Most people aren't as lucky in matters of the heart as I've been, even if I was rather reluctant at first."

"Wow! That's rather deep, Spencer," Jeremy teased him trying to hide how much his older brother's words had affected him.

"I am capable of deep thought, certainly more capable then some people," Spencer teased right back.

Jeremy looked embarrassed, though it faded quickly.

"Good one, Spencer," Brooke chuckled, as she watched the blush fade from the back of her mate's neck, as well as the tips of his ears.

"Thank you," Spencer said smiling at Brooke then at Jeremy, who simply glared at him for a few seconds. Unfortunately, he could never stay mad at his brother, since he remembered how it was him that had put him back together after his bad breakup with Angela. Besides, how could you stay mad at the person you had grown up with, done chores and homework with, spent time with just hanging out? They had been close before they had met their mates, at the same time, but they were even closer now, since really, they were the closest in age, except for their sister who was the second child in their family and firmly in the middle of her two brothers.

"Fine, have your fun," Jeremy pretended to huff, but he was fooling no one, so he quit pretending.

"Now about that tour..." Brooke suggested and everybody nodded, Spencer leading them on a tour of the building that Spencer's father-in-law had bought centuries ago.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~


	35. Chapter 35

Part 35

"So you had a visit from the law firm dad hired?" Brook asked her sister.

"Yep. We were kind of expecting them to show up once we figured out that dad, being the responsible person he is would have hired a well known firm to look after the place."

"He didn't tell you?" Jeremy asked.

"No, but that's dad," Harper snorted in amusement. "He likes us to figure things out on our own, but he would've told us if we had asked. That's just the way dad operates and really he's right. We should know him well enough to know how he thinks. We were so busy with packing that it just never entered my mind and apparently never occurred to Brooke either and probably for the same reason. Of course, if we had asked him what law firm he chose to represent his interest here in New York then he would've told us."

"That sounds like Dave actually," Aaron added. "We know each pretty well, since he's been my father-in law for centuries. He's a good guy, but sometimes he won't give you information unless you ask."

"I have to agree with Aaron on this one, he's a really nice man, but that doesn't mean he tells you everything, as he expects you to ask, sometimes anyway. It depends on circumstances and whether it is vital for us to know or not. I guess he decided it wasn't absolutely vital in this case for us to know," Spencer said.

"I suspect he knew we'd figure it out before the the man from Stanton, Prescott and Brewer showed up," Harper said suddenly. "I mean he knows his family and how smart they are. He knew that we would figure it out before the law firm's representative showed up."

"That sounds like dad," Brooke said with a smile.

"It does, doesn't it?" Harper agreed. "Also we have to remember that we have been rather distracted for a long time now. Making arrangements to move, putting some things in storage, selling the house."

"We've been doing the same types of things," Jeremy said. "Whoever moves into our old place might not want the furniture but if they don't we can always sell it or put it in storage."

"I suppose we could have brought the furniture with us, but we already knew this place was good to go and even if it hadn't been, well, we have plenty of money to buy new and since transporting furniture is so much trouble, we just didn't bother," Aaron said.

"We did store a few thing's because they're antique and very valuable but other than that..." Spencer said.

"You didn't see the point," Jeremy said in others nodded.

"Not when we can always buy new," Harper said shrugging. "If we couldn't afford to buy new it would have been different, but we can, even if it's kind of a pain."

"But you and Brooke like to shop, so really it's not that much of a pain," Aaron said smiling.

"I suppose not," Harper conceded.

"We can get started on that tomorrow if you want," Brooke offered. "We should be done by lunch time if we go early enough."

"Sounds good," Harper agreed. "Of course, if any of you men want to come along you're welcome to."

"I think we can leave the furniture shopping for you ladies," Spencer said.

"Brooke, knows what I like," Jeremy added. "I'm sure she can handle getting a new bed frame and mattress. I don't really care what I sleep on so long as it's comfortable."

"I have to agree with you there," Spencer said.

"Men," both Harper and Brooke said at the same time in pretended exasperation.

"Men really aren't all that far removed from Neanderthals," Harper told her sister with a grin at her two mates. "It was a man's responsibility to hunt and kill anything that threatened the tribe while it was the women's job to do everything else."

"Hey! I resent that," Aaron protested laughingly. "I think I'm pretty sophisticated in most ways and Spencer is too."

"And so am I," Jeremy agreed with a playful pout.

"Just because we don't like to shop, doesn't mean that we aren't capable of it," Spencer added.

"Why bother when we have two beautiful women who are willing to do these kind of things for us?" Aaron added. "I took care of myself for a long time, before I ever met my mate so that ought to prove I am capable."

"I have to admit they are pretty good about most things," Harper told Brooke who nodded.

"Jeremy is too," Brooke agreed.

"Glad you think so," Jeremy drawled in a teasing tone.

Suddenly everybody just burst out laughing and couldn't seem to stop for a long time.

The five of them chatted for some time before the hearing to do their separate things for awhile. It had been decided to just order pizza for that night, as neither Harper and Brooke were in the mood to cook and that was just fine.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

"So how do you feel about having to move from the only home you've ever known?" Spencer asked his brother.

The girls and Aaron were elsewhere so the two of them could talk frankly to each other.

"I knew this was coming and that it would happen someday if we didn't move beforehand. That it was dad that started asking questions about why we still looked so youthful isn't really surprising. Dad's never been able to accept things just the way they are, especially when it concerns his own family. I believe our siblings were curious about why we didn't show signs of aging or at least not much, but know how to keep their mouths shut. However, there're numerous methods to make you look young or old, so we probably should have put gray in our hair for example, something that you can wash out when you want to, as that might have deterred a few questions." Jeremy said.

"Yes, that's something we could have done, but it just seemed like too much trouble," Spencer admitted.

"And it would have been, but it only would have been until we moved away from Las Vegas." Jeremy said.

"That's true," Spencer sighed. "But Aaron, Brooke and Harper would've had to do it too and they might have agreed or maybe not."

"Back to what I was saying. I think that we probably should've left a couple of decades before we did, just as we were discussing the other day, but I can also understand why we didn't leave. If dad had only kept his suspicions to himself we might have been able stay a few more years," Jeremy said.

"No Harper, Aaron and I agree that we should have left a long time before we actually did so. We know what dad's like, we've never been close, because of his general attitude towards me throughout my childhood and also a lot of my adulthood. We got along better after our children were born, but still, he's not the type to accept Immortality as you know. That he didn't ask any questions until recently is a minor miracle in my opinion. Maybe he just didn't notice, but I think it's more likely Ilithyia's doing. I think she was blinding him to the fact that we hadn't aged like we should have and probably our siblings as well to a certain extent. I truly believe that's the only reason we were able to stay in the Las Vegas area for so long and I'm sure Harper and Aaron will agree if I mentioned it to them."

"Brooke too," Jeremy agreed. "I never used to believe in gods and goddesses, but I have to admit I've changed my mind over the last few decades."

"Neither did I, you know that," Spencer agreed. "I became a believer quickly though, when I had those very realistic dreams and when I realized that someone was smothering my emotions so I wouldn't react like I normally would have, something that would have been tragic. I knew I wasn't the one that made my emotions feel like they were wrapped in cotton wool and it couldn't've been Aaron or Harper either. I knew then that there were other forces in the universe, which really makes sense when you think about it. Why would there be so many myths about supernatural beings if they didn't exist at one point in time? Yes, I'm well aware, they might've been just stories, but there is really too much truth to them to be based totally on fiction. Myths and fairytales remain popular for a reason, mostly because there is too much truth in the old tales. Oh, sure, such things get changed over time, watered down, but I've read the original versions, in the original language, which are much different. The same basic elements for the ones that people read every day to their children are still the same, but they're much scarier, definitely make you think and if you happen to be particularly sensitive they have been known to give people nightmares. The original versions of the Grimm fairytales in particular are definitely not meant to be read by children, unless like me, they are particularly scientific minded and see things from that perspective. However, some children are very sensitive and it would definitely give those type nightmares."

"You also like to read sci-fi and fantasy which means that you will at least familiar with the concept of Immortals," Jeremy mentioned.

"While that's true, it didn't mean I believed they existed until I actually met a pair of them," Spencer said.

"But it did make it easier to accept their explanation even in Ilithyia was smothering your emotions," Jeremy pointed out.

"I suppose," Spencer agreed finally.

"What do you think will happen now that all of us have removed ourselves from Vegas?" Jeremy asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

"Truthfully, I think that Ilithyia will subtly make our father's memories fade, get him to accept that we just decided to travel, that we just needed a change. You don't leave a man like him with suspicions, even if it wasn't quite that yet," Spencer said.

"You also don't want a man like dad thinking about it whenever he's free to do so," said Jeremy.

"No, you don't want a man like dad dwelling on such a delicate subject. He would cause trouble whether he meant to or not and while that might eventually die down it might leave a lot of damage in its wake. I think the reason dad finally woke up too our basically unchanged appearances is because Ilithyia wanted us to move on. She knew that we were smart enough to get the message and leave as soon as we could."

"Well, we listened and I'm glad we did," Jeremy finally admitted.

"I am too, but I'm really going to miss mom and our siblings but especially Whitney," Spencer admitted and Jeremy nodded. Spencer, Whitney and him were incredibly close but then they weren't that far apart in age so he supposed it wasn't surprising.

"At least Whitney knows about Immortals," Jeremy said.

"Yeah, I always thought we should've told her before we actually did," Spencer admitted. "She stayed mad about it for a long time."

"You can't really blame her though," Jeremy suggested. "She was hurt that we hadn't told her."

"Yeah, she was, I know. I think that Ilithyia wanted us to tell our sister, because she was trustworthy and also because we are the closest to her. I don't think Whitney would've noticed how young we all still looked if we weren't supposed to tell her the truth. I could be wrong, but I really don't think I am in this case. I know how she works by now and it's always subtle and discreet," Spencer said.

"I think it's why Immortals have been able to remain a secret for so many centuries, because the gods work in the background to cover up any obvious signs, as some people can put very subtle clues together," Jeremy said.

"Yes, some Immortals don't know how to just live quietly. There are rumors about Immortal beings and have been for a long time, but luckily, most people don't believe them," Spencer said.

"Which is a good thing," Jeremy said and Spencer nodded in complete agreement.

"Yes, our society isn't really geared to believing in the supernatural and hasn't been at least since the late 13th and 14th century and really before that, which is why most people dismiss such strange rumors. Really, that's a good thing, as that means most people won't just start to hunt supernaturals like they did witches centuries ago. However, there are always exceptions."

"Somebody who believes the rumors and starts to hunt mortals because they believe they're real," Jeremy said.

"And ends up killing regular mortals, just because that person believed the rumors," Spencer agreed. "It would only start a vicious cycle, much like the witch hunts of so long ago. I believe that's why Ilithyia enjoys rewarding those that just live quietly and go about their business. That shows compassion for those less fortunate. Ilithyia, is supposed to be one of the more compassionate goddesses, probably because she's also the goddess of childbirth."

"You know I had never heard of this Ilithyia, before I met Brooke," Jeremy said.

"I'm not surprised by she's a relatively minor goddess in the Greek pantheon and has several other names. She's not written about very much except in very old myths and legends. You really have to be into ancient history to learn about her like me and mom are."

The two brothers chatted for another couple of minutes and then parted going to do their own things until everyone else got home.

~~~Immortal Soulmates~~~

Spencer explained the same theory he had told his brother, to Aaron and Harper once the three of them were in bed that same night.

"I've had similar thoughts," Aaron admitted. "Not everybody is as curious is a cat, but I know people can be, especially somebody who saw us on a near constant basis. People like Spencer's dad would normally begin to get suspicious if we didn't age or at least show some visible signs, even if we still looked young at the same time, since there are ways to do that. It really surprised me at first that Spencer's father didn't say anything like after a decade at least or 15 years at the latest. He's not the type to keep his suspicions to himself."

"I have to agree," Harper said. "Which tells us that he wasn't suspicious until recently. I've had some very similar thoughts over the last few decades, but since he wasn't asking questions I figured there was no need to worry about it right then."

"Well, it looks like we've all had the same idea," Spencer said smiling.

"That's not really surprising, you know," Aaron pointed out.

"I was surprised at first that my father didn't actually ask why we still looked basically the same, as when we met after a few decades passed, so I figured it had to be, Ilithyia's doing, as even minor goddesses can be very powerful," Spencer said.

"I sincerely believe that your dad's curiosity was a sign that we needed to move on," said Harper. "It's like your dad suddenly woke up and realized that we all still looked basically the same, even though it was 70 years later."

"I told Jeremy the same," Spencer agreed. "All of us have had similar thoughts over the years as my dad might not be the most observant person out there, but even he would've noticed that his sons still looked the age they were when they got married if not for Ilithyia's likely interference."

"And while there are ways to conceal a person's aging, you can't get rid of all of them," said Aaron.

"Do you think that Ilithyia affected your siblings too, well, all except for Whitney?" asked Harper.

"Probably somewhat," Spencer who had already considered if his siblings were affected by Ilithyia said. "I don't think they were influenced as heavily, because they know how to not ask questions and they certainly know enough to keep their mouths shut so long as Jeremy and I were happy. I won't claim that they wouldn't be curious, but they also care about both Jeremy and I enough that unlike dad they'd keep their opinions to themselves unless they saw something they couldn't ignore."

"Yes, I think we all had that impression," Aaron said.

"How all your siblings turned out to be more like your mother then your dad is a miracle in my opinion," Harper said. "Your dad is a selfish, arrogant bastard and while he's improved somewhat over the years my opinion is still valid."

"I agree, you know I do," Spencer said, as he cuddled into Harper's side. "While dad changed a lot after his grandchildren were born his basic personality was already set. As for my siblings they had the privilege of growing up alongside me and saw how their beloved father basically ignored me when he wasn't trying to get me to do what he wanted. They all saw this from a young age and knew that they're older brother was under an unfair amount of pressure to conform to what their father wanted. They were intelligent enough to see that if I was under that amount of pressure before I even hit my teenage years then it might be the same for them. It also has to do with the fact that I helped raise every single one of them read them bedtime stories, helped them with their homework, doctored them when they got a scraped knee from falling or some other minor injury like a split lip or a black eye. If you think that dad ever did any of these things then you don't know him as well as you think you do."

"No, we'd figured out that your dad basically ignored all of you or at least didn't notice things like that, though he certainly paid more attention to his other children then he did to you," Aaron said.

"No, he'll never win any father of the year awards," Spencer chuckled it coming out sounding rather sarcastic and a little bitter.

"Children, remember the attention you paid them, even if it's not consciously, so from a young age they knew they couldn't really depend on their father, because he was just too busy or because he chose to ignore them whenever he was home. However, my life might be different if he'd only paid more attention to them then he did to me once he realized that I wasn't turning out like he expected or wanted. While he apologized for that just before his grandchildren were born it doesn't make those years any less painful to remember," Spencer said.

"Of course it doesn't," Harper snorted. "I know having an eidetic memory doesn't help. Your memories of your childhood would've faded a lot by now if not for that."

"That's true, but I also remember how happy I've been for a long time now, so that kind of cancels out my bad childhood," Spencer said. "Now that we're away from Las Vegas and my father I doubt I'll think about my childhood very much at all, though I do intend to stay in contact with mom and my siblings until she passes away.

"I also think that dad began to notice the fact that we haven't really aged, even though I had been married to Harper for decades, because it was Ilithyia's way of letting us know that it was time to move on."

"I had already thought of that and I have to agree," Aaron said. "She knew we were intelligent enough to take it as the warning it was."

"I suspect that dad's memory will fade at least somewhat. He'll remember all the time he spent with his grandchildren watching them grow up, but he probably won't remember how young we still looked or perhaps, it will seem like a dream. We all know that mom will say nothing, so her memory is likely to remain intact."

"And your sister's too," Harper said.

"As for the others I don't know. They'll likely remember how much time they spent with us, but as to whether they still remember how young we looked..." Spencer said.

"It doesn't matter. Your siblings will have fond memories of their brothers and that's all that matters. We'll maintain contact of course, but we likely won't ever see them again, except perhaps your mother and Whitney," Aaron said.

"I know that makes you sad, but it was necessary," Harper added.

"I know that," Spencer promised. "It doesn't mean I'm not going to miss them."

"Of course, you will, that's only natural," Aaron said.

"They could even meet us somewhere for a few days, though I'm not sure if your mother can get away without your father at least questioning her about it," Harper suggested.

"As for Whitney, her husband was killed a few years ago and her children of course, are all grown up and have children of their own so it would be easier for her to get away," Aaron added.

"That's a good point yes, it should be easier for Whitney to get away for a few days, even a week," Spencer said.

"We'll work something out I'm sure," Aaron promised. "I know how much you're going to miss your family but on the other hand..."

"Moving was necessary," Spencer finished.

"You got a lot of good years with your family something not all Immortals get," Harper said. "I think we're all very lucky in that respect, at least you and Jeremy are."

"I know I am and I'm grateful for all the time I got with most of my family," Spencer said.

Both Harper and Aaron knew Spencer was mostly talking about his father, as the one person he wouldn't miss as much from his family. While the two of them had mended their relationship somewhat they had never been very close.

"I believe that Ilithyia wanted us to remain in contact with your sister at least which is likely why she wanted us to tell her," Aaron said. "It's possible I'm wrong of course, but I really don't believe that she would have let your sister know all about Immortality if she didn't expect you to maintain a relationship with her. All your other siblings might miss you and Jeremy, but while you're close to them they'll probably won't be too curious about what happened to you so long as you remain in at least minimal contact. They all have their own lives and while they'll always love you..."

"They'll be too busy to dwell on their missing brothers, so long as they know you're healthy, as they have their own lives to live and their families to enjoy. I only regret that I'll never get to see one of my great-nieces be born," Spencer said

Before they had left one of Nyssa's children had been pregnant with her third child, a girl.

"While you love all your nieces and nephews you don't have time to get really close to them. Considering how big your family is now that's not surprising."

"No, it's really not," Spencer sighed. "You're right, I'm not close to most of my family. I couldn't be if I wanted to spend any time with you or my own children at least when they were young. Still, I can't help but regret a little..."

"That you're not going to be there to see your new great-niece grow up," Aaron said.

"That will pass once you have your own kids to deal with and that time is nearly upon us," Harper said.

"I know we agreed that I was going to go first this time," Aaron said, "but I think we should let Spencer go first in getting you pregnant. It will help with his melancholy mood."

"Once I get fully involved with you guys and my life here my mood will pass," Spencer told Harper and Aaron.

"Still, I think you should get Harper pregnant first, as you're not used to moving on when you have to," Aaron said. "I'll wait for 2 or 3 years to have my own kids, as I'll think of yours as mine anyway."

"Yeah, I know," Spencer chuckled his rather introspective mood fading. He would likely always regret having to leave Las Vegas and all his family, but he also knew it had been necessary and had known from the beginning that he would have to move on when the time came.

He had many centuries ahead of him and he had no doubt that he would be more than happy for all that time, just as he had been for the last 70 years. He would always miss those he had left behind, but at least he had his brother with him for centuries to come, the brother he had always been closest to. He would always be grateful that he had at least one of his siblings with him for the next thousand years.

"Let's get some sleep," Spencer suggested.

"An excellent idea," Harper said smiling, as she kissed Spencer on the lips.

She did the same to Aaron and the three of them immediately snuggled together before Harper ordered the lights off.

The three of them drifted off to sleep contently in just a matter of minutes, secure in the knowledge that they had a bright future ahead of them and would for a long time to come if Ilithyia was kind.


End file.
